› added 9 years ago

88

TIL that each U.S. driver crashes an average of once every 10 years and that cell phone use is involved in 26% of all motor vehicle crashes.

Read more roadloans.com

via reddit.com

V60p TIL Between 1945 and 1965, the number of people under British rule outside the UK itself fell from 700 million to five million.
GYO74 TIL about the world's oldest cured ham. It was overlooked on its hook at Gwaltney Foods in 1902 and hung from a rafter for twenty years. The company owner then declared it his pet ham, put a collar on it, and took it to exhibitions. It's now in a museum in Isle of Wight County, VA. It has a Twitter.
gMwwA TIL there’s a protein made by placenta cells called syncytin which aids in the attachment of the placenta to the uterine wall, making it essential for nutrients to get to the developing fetus. The gene that codes for the protein actually came from a virus millions of years ago.
KOjpQ TIL American Airlines circumvented the manufacturer's instructions to save 200 man-hours, doing so they caused the US' worst airline disaster in history. Their procedure was damaging the pylon mounts without anyone knowing it. The manufacturer had warned American Airlines against their procedure.
ey8D TIL many people who own high end and exotic cars register them in Montana to avoid sales taxes in their home state.