› added 10 years ago

74

TIL Almon Strowger was so pissed off at a telephone operator that he invented the first step switch, the step switch eliminated the need for switchboard operators.

Read more connected-earth.com

via reddit.com

VMGZD TIL Tennessee Fainting, is a breed of Goat that faints due to a condition called myotonia congenita, which is hereditary. Myotonia Congenita is a recessive gene, goats that are crossbred with other breeds typically do not display fainting behaviors.
v1GkL TIL That there is a special type of font for people with Dyslexia. Henry Winkler (Fonzie on Happy Days) has written a series of children's books using this font. He did so because he has dyslexia. The books tell the story of Hank, a kid with Dyslexia. The font has more space between letters.
vPa0B TIL about the BAC Three-Eleven, a proposed widebody airliner that would have competed with the Airbus A300.
yYxl TIL Stalin ordered in 1941 to open the tomb of the 14th century warlord Tamerlane. There was an inscription that read “Whoever opens my tomb shall unleash an invader more terrible than I”. Germany launched the invasion to the USSR that very day.
dDyNE TIL that Rudolf Nureyev's grave in a Paris cemetery is draped with a beautiful, realistic mosaic of an oriental Kilim rug, in order to reflect the ballet dancer's life-long love of textiles and antiques.