› added 12 years ago

131

TIL that from 1979 to 1993, NYC had upwards of 3000 non-working fire hydrants on sidewalks for the sole purpose of increasing parking violation revenue.

Read more firehydrant.org

via reddit.com

697gY TIL the famous Guy Fawkes mask is owned by Warner Brothers and they are paid a fee with the sale of each official mask.
PYYeO TIL Icelandic people actively work to eliminate English "loanwords" in their language by inventing and substituting new words from Old Icelandic and Norse roots
kYW7 TIL That only one victim of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Frank Gusenberg, was still alive when police arrived on the scene. When questioned by the police about the shooting, despite reportedly having fourteen bullets in his body, his only response was “nobody shot me”.
4X6Ma TIL Ameican women didn't start shaving their armpits until 1915... this sudden change was due to an advertisement in Harper's Bazaar fashion magazine. It was so effective that now 90% of US women shave their pits.
oRlbL TIL about the Union of the Comoros; an archipelagic country off the southeast coast of Africa with an estimated population of 1 million people.