› added 12 years ago

349

TIL that an Australian study has found that homework is of little to no academic value to students in elementary and junior high schools.

Read more abc.net.au

via reddit.com

QNKwd TIL that the name "Bullet Train" refers specifically to the Japanese Shinkansen system and isn't just a nickname for any highspeed train with a bullet shaped nose
6yjJ TIL that you should not use flame or salt to remove a leech, as it may regurgitate its stomach contents into the wound.
BrXy TIL Wayne’s World was responsible for starting the phrase “that’s what she said” and the “not” joke
l7RXa TIL that Marine Corps Captain John W. Ripley was awarded the Navy Cross in Vietnam for climbing under a bridge several times while under fire to plant a combined 500 pounds of explosives in order to destroy it and separate his men from enemy. He survived the action and retired a Colonel in 1992.
Qbla TIL the words “something” and “nothing” were Elzabethan slang for “penis” and “vagina,” respectively. Thus, the title of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” is actually a dirty pun