› added 9 years ago

425

TIL that before the Eraser was invented people used soft bread crumbs to erase pencil marks

Read more historyofpencils.com

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x4ak TIL In 1980 a Centaur skeleton was assembled using the remains of a human and Shetland pony, then displayed as a real artifact in order to challenge student skepticism
9Yl6X TIL that there is a statue of Babe Ruth standing in the Sendai Zoo in Japan. It was on that very spot – considered sacred by some – where the great Yankees slugger’s first home run in Japan landed.
LQrNr TIL an 1858 heatwave caused the River Thames to reek unbearably due to raw sewage dumping. The stench was so intense that Parliament ended sessions early, and curtains were soaked in chloride to mask the smell. This was the tipping point that finally pushed London to build a modern sewer system.
QNj4X TIL Hans Zimmer had trouble timing the score for Jack Sparrow and Will Turner's fight in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl," until an assistant making coffee asked to be given a shot, and that's how Ramin Djawadi ("Game of Thrones," "Iron Man," "Pacific Rim") got his career.
rRPn0 TIL that citrus trees are almost always grafted and need to have their "suckers" removed if they're growing from the original rootstock (below the grafting point). Letting them grow could overtake the "scion" variety meant to produce the edible fruit. The rootstock fruit is usually watery and bland