› added 4 years ago

137

TIL that Right Whales got their name from the fact that they conveniently float after being killed, and were thus know to whalers as the "right whale" to kill.

Read more nationalgeographic.com

via reddit.com

ZpmZp TIL that until 2021, Maryland's state song was "Maryland, my Maryland," a confederate war poem set to the tune of 'O Tannenbaum.' The opening line refers to Abraham Lincoln as a tyrant, and the lyrics go on to describe the Union as "Northern Scum."
6EZXZ TIL the 1972 pornographic movie Deep Throat earned a reported 600 million dollars at the box office, which if true, would make it the highest grossing movie of the 1970s.
vPEoD TIL a coin toss determined the name for Portland, Oregon. It was named after the winner’s hometown. If he lost, it would have been named Boston, Oregon, after the other guy’s hometown.
xVdB1 TIL that the spacesuits for the first moon landing were made by Playtex, a company famous for making bras and girdles. NASA had staged a competition to see who could make the best suit. Playtex officials essentially had to beg to be allowed to submit a suit design into the competition.
4XJWJ TIL Foxconn's Longhua factory, responsible for manufacturing Apple's iPhones, had issues with workers committing suicide by jumping off buildings in response to poor working conditions. They tried to resolve the situation by installing large safety nets to catch falling bodies.