› added 4 years ago

96

TIL Captain Cook's return to Hawaii coincided with the Makahiki, a Hawaiian harvest festival of worship for the god Lono. Coincidentally the form of Cook's ship resembled certain artifacts that formed part of the season of worship. He was flayed a month later after trying to kidnap the king.

X0kAQ TIL the town of Center in North Dakota was named in 1902 because of its proximity to the center of Oliver County. In 2017 geography proffessor Peter Rogerson used azimuthal equidistant projection to calculate the geographical center of North America only to discover it was Center, North Dakota.
9YJGQ TIL despite the Romans using lead water pipes, lead poisoning from the water supply system was almost nonexistent since the high calcium content in their water created a layer of plaque preventing the water contacting the lead itself.
MLj0 TIL that in some European markets, Netflix monitors illegal downloads to decide which shows to purchase.
MpjV TIL Margaret Thompson was the first woman to win an Olympic medal in a shooting sport (silver) in 1976 after tying with the gold medal winner. When the Olympic committee refused a shootoff, the gold medalist pulled Thompson onto the gold medal platform with him.
4kA6a TIL that 5 Christian Churches use the title of Patriarch of Antioch: the Syriac Orthodox, the Maronite, the Syriac Catholic, the Melkite Greek Catholic, and the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. Although no current patriarch is based in the city of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey)