› added 11 years ago

79

TIL in the 1863, an American aphid infestation devastated France’s grapevines, destroying the entire wine industry. It was only saved by grafting Calif. grape-rootstock onto French grapevines, making them resistant to the bugs. To this day, all French wine-grapes are still grown with American roots.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

xDBD TIL Zildjian, the cymbal maker, is one of the oldest companies in the world. Founded in 1618, it’s just under 400 yo. Zildjian means “Bell Maker,” a name given to the Alchemist hired by the Ottoman Sultan to create noise-makers for war. The manufacturing process remains a family secret til this day.
166e8 TIL it's illegal to receive compensation for fortune telling in Oklahoma
Op8a TIL Muhammad Ali once spoke at a KKK rally where he stated that Nation Of Islam, and he himself, also shared their ideals on racial segregation
69G0J TIL Hitler claimed he didn’t have any problem with Jews until later in life when he visited Vienna (though his childhood friends dispute this)
GY7MJ TIL sociologist David Dunning once wrote: "If you're incompetent, you can't know you're incompetent... The skills you need to produce a right answer are exactly the skills you need to recognize what a right answer is." He described this phenomenon as the "the anosognosia of everyday life."