› added 3 months ago

14

TIL the name for XO sauce comes from fine XO (extra-old) cognac, which is a popular Western liquor in Hong Kong. The name is a misnomer since the condiment contains no cognac, and it is not really a sauce in the traditional, smooth sense, but more chunky, like a relish.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

W7EwN TIL about the Aldgate Pump in London, a drinking fountain responsible for the death of hundreds when its water became contaminated by running through nearby graveyards.
MVOB TIL Since 2007, an unfinished skyscraper in Caracas, Venezuela, has been re-appropriated by squatters into a vast ‘vertical slum’ which now includes grocery stores, hairdressers, and an unlicensed dentist.
d8rO8 TIL the government can seize private property and sell it to another private owner for vague promises of "economic development." Suzette Kelo had her home demolished to build hotel-retail space, but the developer cancelled the project and the lot is now vacant. SCOTUS ruled in the City's favor.
R8yj TIL Karl Malone, while a sophomore in college, impregnated a 13 year old girl, and for years refused to pay even $125 a week in child support.
D1W5Y TIL: The light atop a Hollywood record company building has been quietly blinking-out messages in Morse code since first being turned-on in 1956 --by Morse's own granddaughter. (The default message is one word, but it once revealed an album release date: “Katy Perry. Prism. October 22, 2013.")