› added 1 year ago

54

TIL the word tsunami actually means "harbor wave" because the ancient Japanese fishermen did not notice the shock wave passing them while they were out at sea because the wave does not unleash its destructive energy until it reaches shallow waters.

Read more itic.ioc-unesco.org

via reddit.com

wLma7 TIL that at the point in Antarctica that is the most distant from the Southern Ocean, there is a station covered by snow with a statue of Lenin on the roof, and a golden guest book to sign inside; one of the most challenging and coldest place to reach called the Southern Pole of inaccessibility
VJP0 TIL on why he’s never visited Russia, Prince Philip (the Queens husband) replied - ‘I’d like to go to Russia very much – although the bastards murdered half my family.’
5Y8Xn TIL in the Philippines, the legal term for car-theft is "carnapping." This is because when cars used to be very rare in the country and were prized status-items, thieves would steal and hold them for ransom like in a kidnapping. Now the term is used for both car-theft and carjacking cases.
bNKp TIL Dave Chapelle was offered the role of Bubba in Forrest Gump, however turned down the part as he considered it “demeaning” and thought the movie would flop.
Jp0B TIL an Australian doctor named Dr Jack Barnes stung himself, his nine year old son, and a local lifeguard with the Irukandji jellyfish to prove it was the then-unknown cause of Irukandji Syndrome. All three developed the syndrome, and the jellyfish was named Carukia barnesi after him.