› added 13 years ago

116

TIL that contrary to popular belief, Goldfish do not have three second memories. Infact, tests have shown that they have a memory greater than three months.

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X050k TIL A 2014 linguistics study on filler words found that 1) women use “um” ~22% more than men, 2) men say “uh” 250% more than women, & 3) men use filler words ~38% more than women
R5rk6 TIL that the world's quietest room is located at Microsoft's headquarters and registers -20.35 dBA, making it quieter than a human heartbeat
rNLE0 TIL of the Quasi-War, an undeclared war between the U.S. and France from 1798 to 1800. Fought mainly in the Caribbean and off the U.S. East Coast, it set a precedent for Congress to authorize military action without a formal war declaration, influencing later conflicts like Vietnam and the Gulf War.
78NeO TIL As late as the 1950s and early 1960s, the terms funk and funky were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company.
kagd TIL Iceland has been so culturally isolated through history since the Vikings, that compared to other Scandinavian counties, people who speak Icelandic can still read the old Norsk sagas