› added 8 years ago

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TIL that Zildjian , the largest cymbal producer, was founded in 1623 by an alchemist. He was attempting to turn metals to gold and accidentally made an alloy which made cymbals better. The business mainly made noisemakers for the Ottoman Army. A family member founded the 2nd biggest cymbal brand.

9w06M TIL of the 118 elements, 19 are named after 20 people. Only Seaborg and Oganessian were honored with elements while still alive, and Oganessian is the only one still living. Proposals to name elements for Einstein and Fermi came during their lifetimes, but they had passed before it became official.
0wBAv TIL that the act of throwing someone through a window is known as "defenestration", coined after an argument in Prague Castle about religion in 1618 led to three people being thrown out a third-storey window.
G5lE TIL if you buy a Volvo through their Overseas Delivery Program, you will receive 2 free round-trip tickets to Sweden to test-drive your car (includes airport pickup/luxury hotel). Then you’ll have 2 weeks to explore Europe in the car (they pay insurance). Volvo then ships your car to you for free
KYEgB TIL with more than 90 percent of southern Europeans under 35 are still living at their parents' home
GAgKE TIL Michael J. Fox's first role was in a Canadian series called Leo and Me. Four of the 125 people on the show's set, including Fox, developed early-onset Parkinson's — a disease that usually has an incidence rate of about one in 300.