› added 6 years ago

120

TIL Female brown trout will fake 'orgasms' when courting with inferior males. She'll give all the right visual cues as if about to release eggs for fertilisation, but doesn't; the male will frantically ejaculate, not notice he's been duped, and swim away.

Read more bbc.com

via reddit.com

04G5 TIL the final design for Chewbacca was based on an illustration for a 1975 novelette by George R.R. Martin
OoQnL TIL of Puritan Roger Williams, whom founded Providence, Rhode Island after being banned from Boston in 1636 for being a staunch advocate for religious freedom, separation of church and state, fair dealings with American Indians, and was one of the first abolitionists.
W7eNX TIL the first “Blackhawk” helicopter was the Sikorsky S-67, a tandem seat attack helicopter with a compartment to transport 8 troops, and short wings that held ordinance. A design that would later be seen on the Russian Mi-24 Hind.
LkBeZ TIL some maritime history and the word “quarantine” originates from the Venetian dialect form of the Italian ‘quaranta giorni’, meaning “forty days”.
b66pE TIL In 2009, two Northwest pilots had their licenses revoked (for at least one year) after they overflew the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport by 150 miles and had to turn around. Pilots said that they were using their laptops in the cockpit and lost track of time and place.