› added 6 years ago

149

TIL that cats who fall from heights lower than six stories and survive usually have greater injuries than cats who fall from heights higher than six stories and survive. This is because their terminal velocity is reached at around five stories, after which they will instinctively relax.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

69Xvm TIL landlords in Glasgow, Scotland tried to increase rent by 25% on women whose husbands were fighting in World War 1. The women organised a rent strike and stopped bailiffs entering their buildings by throwing flour bombs at them and pulling down their trousers.
j6nRN TIL Roy Thomson was a radio salesman in an area without a radio station. The young Canadian founded a station so his rural Ontario customers would have something to listen to. CFCH in 1931 began what became the Thomson family's worldwide media empire.
V7pm TIL that the term “grandfathered in” originated from Jim Crow laws which allowed men to be exempt from literacy tests and poll taxes if their grandfather was eligible to vote prior to 1866, effectively ensuring many illiterate white men could still vote, while black men couldn’t.
B77y TIL The hit song “Blinded by the Light” was written by and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen, who made it by going through a rhyming dictionary and looking for rhymes and ended up being unsuccessful, but was covered by Manfred Man and became a #1 hit.
negjP TIL the Binturong AKA “The Bearcat”’s urine smells like buttered popcorn due to the chemical 2-AP which can also be found in freshly toasted bread and cooked rice.