› added 12 years ago

231

TIL when Charles Darwin first discovered the Galapagos Tortoises he tried to ride them

Read more history1800s.about.com

via reddit.com

0wDjy TIL that the F.B.I. and C.I.A. recruit heavily from the Mormon population because they are usually cheaper to do a security clearance on, they often speak another language from their mission trips and they usually have a low risk lifestyle.
Lk7Gr TIL National Museum of American History considers "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "The X-Files" and "Star Trek" important parts of American culture, and has related props in collection
X0K6r TIL that "football" refers to a sport played on foot, rather than horseback, and not to how the ball is moved. (Explaining why US Football is known as such despite mostly relying on hands).
OGGb1 TIL The Mariana Trench was first discovered in 1951 by a British Survey ship.
5a9R TIL the reason behind spiral stairs being clockwise: In medieval times, they were designed this way in castles, so that attackers running up the stairs had their sword-arm near the center column, while the defenders had more room to swing their sword.