› added 5 years ago

86

TIL the Great Dismal Swamp (at the border of North Carolina and Virginia) held the largest "Maroon" colony (escaped slaves and their descendants) in the United States. Most managed to stay hidden despite militia invasions that aimed to capture them, and only left the swamp after the civil war.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

8nlG TIL of Parlor Rollers. It is a breed of pigeon that can’t fly but can roll or do somersaults on the ground.
nAJr TIL the human brain remains half awake when sleeping in a new environment for the first time.
J0BV TIL - Handshakes were originally meant to make sure that the person you were meeting wasn’t carrying a concealed weapon. The hand clasp proved that your hand was empty and shaking was meant to dislodge any weapons hiding up the sleeve.
xVG91 TIL that 6.57 Billion (90% of the world’s population) lives in the Northern Hemisphere
gMNWL TIL that when Spanish King Ferdinand II (funder of Columbus) went to war with the French over Naples, despite previously signing an agreement to partition the region, he said: "The King of France complains that I have twice deceived him. He lies, the fool; I have deceived him ten times and more."