› added 8 years ago

106

TIL an inventor trying to make a sock to prevent trench foot first produced modern water balloons. Having made a latex-coated sock and filling it with water to test for leaks, he found a rip and angrily threw it on his table. Pleased with the splash, he decided to market water balloons for children.

Read more wikipedia.org

via ift.tt

QJMoE TIL that in 1975 a cat was credited as a co-author of a physics paper, after Jack Hetherington accidentally used articles such as "we" and "our" in a study on atomic behavior. Unwilling to change the errors, he simply added his cat as a co-author, under the name "F.D.C. Willard"
KPZB TIL in 1994 a russian pilot let his 15 yo son and 12 yo daughter try to fly an aircraft. The kids unknowingly disabled the autopilot: the plane crashed into a hillside in Siberia killing all 63 passengers and 12 crew members
R7RW6 TIL: When Richard Dawkins originally coined the term, a "meme" was a basic elements of culture just as a gene is the basic component of genetics.
OoD4Y TIL David “Carbine” Williams, who helped invent the M1 Carbine, was a convicted murderer and created innovative gun ideas while in jail. He was convicted of the shooting of a sheriff who busted his illegal moonshine still. He was released after his family argued his inventions could help America.
E1AOX TIL "Ugland House" is a 5-story building in George Town, Cayman Islands that is physically occupied by the law firm Maples and Calder and is the registered office address for over 40,000 entities, including many major investment funds, international joint ventures and capital market issuers.