› added 7 years ago

92

TIL that the Dutch East India Company paid its investors an 18% annual dividend for almost 200 years.

Read more wikipedia.org

via ift.tt

BM7W TIL it is the 105th anniversary of the Tunguska Event - the largest “impact event” on or near Earth in recorded history, and had scientists confused for many years.
oWYr TIL Frank Shuman was an American inventor, engineer & solar energy pioneer noted for his work on solar engines. He built the world’s first solar thermal power station in Maadi, Egypt in 1912. His plant managed to pump 6,000 gallons of water per minute from the Nile River into adjacent cotton fields.
d8dXQ TIL about Giant Hogweed a plant whose sap can cause your skin to become hypersensitive to UV light which can result in 3rd Degree burns from sunlight.
aw4Wy TIL that the pirate Benjamin Hornigold once raided a merchant ship just to steal the hats from the ship's crew because his crew had gotten too drunk the night before and had thrown their hats overboard.
xVmA7 TIL that sections of the shiny stainless steel exterior of the Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles had to be de-polished because in bright sun they were cooking neighboring buildings and blinding drivers.