› added 7 years ago

152

TIL (through NPR) that Gary Erickson, the owner of Clif Bar & Company, didn't name the iconic energy bar after his passion for rock climbing, but rather his father, Clifford.

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via reddit.com

y7oX TIL the Empire State Building’s spire was originally designed to be a mooring mast for Zeppelin airships
5YxBk TIL the Abraham Lincoln Battalion was a group of American fighters in the Spanish Civil War, including a vaudeville acrobat, a rabbi, and the first African-American ever to lead white troops into battle.
kO0Z4 TIL the ancient Greeks had a democratic process to nominate and vote to send any citizen away for 10 years. Like the opposite of an election.
jN80E TIL nomadic Maasai herders in Kenya's savanna use mobile phones to alert each other to dangerous wildlife, and those with basic phones call friends with smartphones to find out the weather forecast
awYrb TIL Part of the reason we sigh is because the alveoli in the lungs collapse with disuse, and a sigh pops them back open by taking in more air. Humans average about 12 sighs an hour, and without them our lungs would fail.