› added 3 years ago

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TIL the Titanic's watertight compartments likely caused its rapid sinking by keeping too much water weight in the bow of the boat. Without the compartments, the ship would have remained horizontal and taken several hours to sink allowing nearby ships to rescue all passengers in time.

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pYWJp TIL that, at the time of Sweden's first census, the population was so much lower than expected that the Swedish government hid the information as to not reveal to other countries how little manpower they really had.
4XJMR TIL 'Catastrophizing'. A cognitive distortion that prompts people to jump to the worst possible conclusion after a minor setback. When a situation is upsetting but safe, they still feel like they are in the midst of a huge crisis. Getting enough sleep can also help keep 'catastrophizing' in check.
D1XbP TIL that virtually every house has thousands to millions of dust mites that you can’t see and never notice unless you have an allergic reaction to its feces
0wnmR TIL the popular door knock "dah dah dah dah dah...dah dah" is know as the "Shave and a Haircut" and was used by POWs during the vietnam war to identify new US prisoners. They would tap the first five notes, and wait for the last two notes in response
KYDO9 TIL Michelin started reviewing restaurants so people would travel farther and wear out their tires, increasing their sales.