› added 6 years ago

138

TIL Helium was first discovered on the Sun (named from the Greek word 'Helios', meaning "the Sun") through the analysis of the Sun's spectrum, and is the only element in the Periodic Table to be discovered some place other than Earth.

Read more education.jlab.org

via reddit.com

0wyXp TIL that most safety features found in cars and other vehicles saw a boom in popularity from the creation of one car, the Tucker 48. Safety features included a pop out windshield, padded dashboard, and even a swivelling headlight depending on which direction you were steering.
BLbD TIL Four Presidents of the U.S. were members of the ‘Whig Party’ (1833-60). The Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the Presidency. The party was ultimately destroyed by the question of whether to allow the expansion of slavery to the territories.
neNYW TIL that due to elephants with tusks getting poached, humans are literally causing natural selection from more elephants being born tuskless over the past decades.
aw7pA TIL New York Times' puzzle editor Will Shortz designed his own major program at Indiana University, and in 1974 became the first and only holder of a degree in Enigmatology, the study of puzzles.
gMgdD TIL that an 81 year old man called Giles Corey, accused of being a wizard in 1692, was the only man in American history to be subjected to death by pressing in an attempt to get him to submit to trial by jury. It is said that his response to the torture was to tell them to add 'more weight.'