› added 11 years ago

108

TIL that in some parts of Poland, it’s uncommon to casually celebrate birthdays, and instead, “name days”, the day a patron saint a person has been named after is dedicated, is celebrated by coworkers, etc.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

E860 TIL that John Hopkins University conducted a study of mushrooms with 36 college-educated adults (average age of 46) who had never tried psilocybin nor had a history of drug use. More than two-thirds reported it was among the top five most spiritually significant experiences in their lives.
xpo5 TIL that when the invading Prussians banned Danish people from flying their flags, they spent years breeding the red-and-white striped “Danish Protest Pig” as the ultimate passive-aggressive display. It is still extant today, though there are only 140 examples and it is officially a rare breed.
BNde TIL That during the filming of The Exorcist, many actors were injured, the set burned down, a priest was brought in many times to bless the set, and the actor who played Burke, Jack MacGowran, died from influenza.
p8RWe TIL about "Black Sunday", Disneyland's disastrous opening day. Asphalt poured that morning melted in the 101 °F weather, counterfeit tickets added 3x the park's capacity, a plumbers' strike forced Walt to choose running toilets over water fountains, vendors ran out of food, rides were hijacked, etc.
4koEg TIL that in 1986, a French woman invested several months of her time to gain the necessary qualifications to operate a helicopter. She then proceeded to rent one, fly it over a prison, and successfully extract her husband, a convicted bank robber, from the prison's roof.