› added 6 years ago

157

TIL that Edison offered $50000 to Tesla if he succeeded in improving the efficiency of Edison's prototypical dynamos. Despite Tesla making a great deal of progress, Edison claimed that the offer was a joke

Read more mentalfloss.com

via reddit.com

NXjVN TIL that Jimmy Stewart(actor) was a bomber pilot in WW2 and the Vietnam War. His last bombing mission was in 1966 as a Brigadier General in the US Air Force
X0ZB6 TIL that a film adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Twits has been in development since 2003 and is scheduled to release in 2025.
7vXx TIL an anonymous donor sent two Bronze Age axes and two pieces of rare Viking jewelry to the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. The museum believes the items were illegally excavated.
5VYER TIL In 1956, a woman was awarded $300 in damages by the city of Miami after she was hit on the foot by a falling coconut. It was argued that the city should have been on notice that the coconut was a hazard, because "a reasonable man would assume it was about to fall when it turns brown".
rPPx TIL that anyone who removes Hawaiian rocks from the islands is said to be cursed. Every year people mail back thousands of pounds of rock, sand, and shells to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, many with reports of how their lives were ruined by the curse.