› added 1 year ago

45

TIL while trying to perform a magic trick to amuse his children, Isambard Kingdom Brunel (generally cited as one of the most important engineers ever) inhaled a coin which stuck in his windpipe. After a machine Brunel devised failed, his father proposed turning him upside-down, dislodging the coin.

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Zp4Np TIL that Nicaraguan Sign Language is a sign language that deaf children in Nicaragua spontaneously developed in the 1980s. Linguists find it particularly interesting because it is believed to be an example of the birth of a new language, unrelated to any other.
Z8Abp TIL that spiders legs extend using hydraulic pressure from their circulatory system, and when they're crushed the legs curl in due to the loss in pressure
aQ00 TIL that around 90% of East Asian School Children are myopic.
eyw4 TIL The comic strip Beetle Bailey has ran since 1950 and is still made by its creator, Mort Walker, at age 91.
BrXpy TIL that a Hong Kong couple earned a US$330,000 profit in nine months… by reselling a parking space.