› added 10 years ago

61

TIL when illiterate people signed documents with an X, they would kiss the X before witnesses as a sign of sincerity. Hence an X at the end of an email = a kiss

Read more glossophilia.org

via reddit.com

QxL6 TIL the Alien in “Alien” was inspired by a transparent deep sea parasite that eats other creatures from the inside out and then takes over their bodies to ride the seas in
OGGoL TIL Hawaii is home to one of the least sunniest places in the whole of the United States- the "town" (CDP) of Hilo located on the Big Island which is also among the country's rainiest.
Gx1Q TIL when a man named Paul Bennewitz had discovered a ‘secret alien base’ through radio signals that actually turned out to be secret government flight tests, the US government decided to throw him off by sending an agent to feed him false information, urging him to pursue his UFO fantasy.
0Yey TIL That Sikhs of both genders can lawfully carry a concealed knife in public.
9mRp TIL of the “Demon Duck of Doom,” an extinct flightless bird that lived in what is now Australia. It stood over 8 ft tall, and had a skull larger than that of some horses. Despite the nickname, it was more closely related to the chicken.