› added 4 years ago

196

TIL that in 1620 with the beer supply aboard ship running low, the captain of the Mayflower decided to land the settlers at Plymouth rock instead of sailing further south.

Read more history.howstuffworks.com

via reddit.com

oY4A TIL Ball, the maker of the glass mason jars, is making the mirrors for the James Webb telescope and made the optics for Hubble.Also they are one of the biggest defense contractors.
ZbJp TIL One of the reasons Microsoft chose the “Bliss” wallpaper for XP was because humans are instinctively attracted to open fields since they allow us to see any predators or prey very quickly. Resulting in your brain releasing endorphins as you use the operating system.
R519 TIL in Japan, it is so common for people to die alone undiscovered for long periods, that they have a term for it, “Kodokushi”. “Their bodies lie in places undiscovered for long periods of time, and because of this, thick, dark stains shaped like a human body are left where their bodies once lay.”
E1xJ0 TIL that the "worst disaster" in British Military History was the Battle of Singapore, when the British had their sea guns the wrong way, expecting Japan to invade by sea as the jungles of Malaya were impenetrable. Instead they landed and invaded on bicycle, catching everyone off guard.
rKW1 TIL that in the 1960s there was an attempt to let humans travel via pneumatic tube (the Jetsons, Futurama, items sent in old timey office buildings) and was estimated to allow travel at 388 mph. It was scrapped due to cost.