› added 7 months ago

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TIL that what we refer to as “The Star-Spangled Banner” is actually only one of four stanzas of the poem it was derived from.

Read more amhistory.si.edu

via reddit.com

woel1 TIL NHL player Tim Horton (co-founder of the Canadian coffeehouse/restaurant chain) died at the age of 44 when he crashed his car while driving home after an NHL game in Toronto. His BAC was twice the legal limit, he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and he had barbiturates in his system.
0MOA TIL researchers found a single genetic mutation that occurred about 10 million years ago and endowed our ancestors with a stronger ability to metabolize ethanol. As getting drunk off fruit would render one unable to defend territory or look for food, selection favored those with the new mutation.
w4eY TIL that the captain of the Costa Condordia has yet to serve any of his prison sentence, and even taught a panic management course two years after he panicked and abandoned his ship before any passengers could get off.
16Wlr TIL that we have been shaking hands since at least 900 BCE.
6ZkZ TIL that one of the main hypothesis explaining the massive dislike of clowns is the “uncanny valley effect”. The term depicts a valley of negative emotional response caused by things that look human but “aren’t quite there”