› added 10 months ago

50

TIL that human beings are very close to having a neutral buoyancy in water. The makeup of each individual determinants whether they sink or float.

Read more youtube.com

via reddit.com

jNQav TIL that in 1939, the US army was ranked nineteenth in size in the world, behind Portugal and only slightly ahead of Bulgaria. Its equipment was obsolete, and it relied heavily on horses
1jGV TIL that a 1915-1926 epidemic swept the world and afftected about 5 million people. Referred to as the greatest medical mystery of the 20th century, it left victims in a statue-like condition, speechless and motionless. Of the ~2/3 who survived, many never returned to their pre-existing “aliveness”.
grPVW TIL Galileo was ordered to turn himself in to the Holy Office to begin trial for holding the belief that the Earth revolves around the sun, which was deemed heretical by the Catholic Church
oBy8A TIL that Stockbridge Police Chief William J. Obanhein, who in 1964 posed for Norman Rockwell famous Ruby Bridges painting "The Problem We All Live With", was surprisingly also the “Officer Obie” of Arlo Guthrie’s 1967 hit song “Alice’s Restaurant.”
9YeXX TIL: There are two seperate and incompatible power grids in Japan. East Japan (Tokyo) is powered by 50hz generators and West Japan (Osaka, Kyoto) is powered by 60hz. As early companies looked for AC current options, the east ordered their generators from Germany, the west ordered from America.