› added 5 years ago

115

TIL that in 1896, Irish-American inventor Patrick Cunningham sabotaged a town rally for presidential candidate William McKinley by firing his rocket-powered "flying devil" torpedo down the main street.

Read more independent.ie

via reddit.com

neerd TIL Vienna installed gay-themed crossing lights for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest
9YgEB TIL that the reason the New York Mets still pay Bobby Bonilla $1.19 Million every year on July 1st is related to the Bernie Madoff Investment Scandal.
4k97w TIL Dr. Seuss' Lorax character was likely inspired by the patas monkeys he encountered while in Kenya
4X8ea TIL that the huge Lake Kivu is one of three lakes known to have limnic eruptions, natural disasters that create CO2 gas clouds that wipe out life in the area. It takes place every 1000 years or so and 2 million people now live in the vicinity.
JYAOj TIL in 2015 Forbes named Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaire in America based on a $9 billion valuation of her company. Yet within a year, following revelations of potential fraud about its claims, Forbes revised her net worth to zero dollars.