› added 6 years ago

59

TIL the Cryptex, the cylindrical combination vaults that hold secret messages, made famous in The Da Vinci Code, is a neologism completely invented by Dan Brown and has no historical connection to a real device of the sort.

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nml9 TIL the Ottoman Empire was still in existence the last time the Cubs won the world series.
4kdN5 TIL that Flamingos are born dull grey and get pink by eating algae and worms with beta carotene that makes them pink
QJjZ6 TIL the voice of the primary Soviet radio announcer during WW2, a Jewish man named Yuri Levitan, was so unique and inspiring that Hitler personally placed a bounty (250,000 Reichsmarks, which is roughly $1.3 million dollars in today’s currency) on him.
5VwGk TIL a plane can go faster than the speed of sound but not make a sonic boom
O8E7 TIL that the King in front of a snake’s name (as in King Cobra) means that it eats other snakes