› added 5 years ago

77

TIL That in some countries such as Greece, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania and Sicily, nodding your head means "no" or refusal of something, instead of the common meaning of approval.

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kJdA4 TIL that the US considered dropping an atomic bomb on Kyoto. However, Secretary of War Henry Stimson had vacationed there and admired the city. So, he convinced President Truman to choose another target due to Kyoto’s religious significance. Nagasaki was chosen in its place.
W7ZZX TIL that in the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore, Santa's reindeer were Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem. He later changed Blixem to Blitzen, but Dunder didn't become Donner until well after his death.
wol16 TIL the USS Scorpion was lost at sea in May 1968 with 99 men lost. The wreckage was found almost two miles deep, making it impossible to determine the cause of accident. Underwater acoustics out of the Canary Islands heard the exact time of the implosion but were unaware it was the sub sinking.
awXRJ TIL of the Orangutan Opening, a chess opening so named because the grandmaster Tartakower "consulted" an orangutan at a zoo the day before a tournament game, who "somehow indicated, Tartakower insisted, that he should open with b4".
78AKb TIL That there was a "professional, cuddler, kisser and hug enthusiast" called Anton Vasilov Tsvetkov, born in Bulgaria. He pioneered the field of "therapeutic touch" in Eastern Europe.