› added 4 years ago

284

TIL standard classroom maps are based on the Mercator projection, a 16th century rendition that shows disproportionate sizes of continents, resulting in widespread misconceptions of geography.

Read more discovermagazine.com

via reddit.com

WrDA TIL The World’s oldest known creature, a mollusc, was 507 years old until scientists killed it by mistake.
mOY TIL - apparently there is enough of a problem of court ordered ankle monitors being placed on detachable legs, they have actually created a policy of testing the leg to see if it is real or not before the monitor is put on. This policy is not always followed.
4exo TIL that in 1856, the color mauve was invented accidentally in a young chemist’s attempt to cure malaria. Instead of curing the disease, the ink was picked up by the Queen and took Victorian fashion by storm.
PvaV TIL the famous opening phrase “It was a dark and stormy night;…” was first used in the 1830 novel Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
D1d0e TIL - Peter Herceg (Tomich) sacrificed his life to save hundreds of lives on USS Utah by staying on board while it was sinking to prevent the explosion of the ship