› added 2 months ago

8

TIL of the Portrait of Juan de Pareja - the earliest known portrait of a Spanish man of African descent - a 1650 work by Diego Velázquez, it depicts an enslaved man Juan de Pareja, and in the words of the contemporaries it "alone was truth"

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

b9x6a TIL that Diamonds do not last forever, as the amount that people spend on weddings and engagement rings is inversely associated with how long they stay married. Spending between $2,000-$4,000 is associated with (an increase in the hazard of divorce) as compared with spending between $500- $2,000
LkVDv TIL of Dick Assman, a Canadian gas station employee that was propelled to fame by his name. His father's name was Adolf Assman.
VQlB TIL the music video of runaway train (Soul Asylum) helped locate 26 missing children. It was so effective 6 different versions were made!
8gMa TIL the word “mesmerize” comes from 18th century German physician Franz Mesmer, who used the sounds from Benjamin Franklin’s glass armonica to induce “animal magnetism” in patients. “Animal magnetism” would later be renamed “hypnosis” by Scottish surgeon James Braid in 1841.
wLmbP TIL There exists a weatherphenomenon called a "rainbomb" and it has killed 137 people on DeltaFlight 191 on August 2, 1985. The scientific name is "wet microburst" and now there are photos.