› added 6 years ago

178

TIL that one of history's most successful pirates was a Chinese prostitute named Ching Shih. She commanded a fleet of over 1,500 ships and 80,000 sailors.

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via reddit.com

a80gZ TIL an earth year had more days in the far past. scientists made this discovery after comparing corals/clams which have corresponding growth rings for each day. depending on the age, fossils record 400 to 420 days instead of our typical 365 a year.
GYlkj TIL of the Name Of The Year award, a yearly prize given to the person with the most unique name, as voted for by the public. Current holder is Jimbob Ghostkeeper from Canada.
9YDmr TIL Jim Varney aka Ernest is the real record holder for most commercials at over 3,000!
Dk0D TIL that in 1931, a 17 year old female baseball pitcher named Jackie Mitchell struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the same exhibition game.
XEd4r TIL when Luciano Pavarotti suddenly fell ill and was unable to sing Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" at the 1998 Grammys, Aretha Franklin filled in for him at “literally a moment’s notice" and sang an acclaimed rendition of the aria