› added 7 years ago

259

TIL that Orcas Island, famous for its resident pods of orcas, was actually named after Horcasitas, the Viceroy of Mexico, who sponsored an expedition there in 1791. Whereas the animal name “orca” originated in Ancient Rome. So “Orcas Island” is probably the most coincidental place name on Earth.

Read more gonorthwest.com

via ift.tt

l7v8V TIL: The average person misplaces around 9 objects a day. By the time we turn 60, we will have misplaced 200,000 items and spent 6 solid months looking for them.
R7X6a TIL that birds were the only dinosaurs to survive the mass extinction, because they were small enough to burrow, had beaks and were smarter than other small beaked dinosaurs.
VMjXD TIL that during the Soviet economy collapse and Russian privatization that followed, the Russian government decided to implement voucher privatization, giving the country's company shares equally to 98% of the population including minors.
n7oo TIL through coarticulation, your brain decides the placement of your tongue and lips based on the sounds that follow the first letter. i.e. your lips are shaped differently for the /k/ in kid vs. /k/ in cop.
R5xvj TIL men in Ireland, Poland, Italy, and Portugal have lighter skin than women in these countries.