› added 6 years ago

103

TIL the Yucatan Peninsula got its name when the first Spanish explorers asked the Aztecs where they were and they said, "Yucatan," which means "I don't understand what you are saying" in their language and the Spanish thought that it was the name of the place.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

xVjNk TIL that anyone residing in Portugal is presumed a consenting organ donor unless the contrary is manifested by obtaining a legal document that states the person does not want to be considered for donation upon their death.
6EMdQ TIL that even though Berkeley had one of the best rugby teams in the US that won many national championships, the university wanted to get rid of the team in 2010 in order to reduce costs. Only after a ton of fundraising was the sport kept.
4kmkg Today I learned about Marty Friedman, ex- guitarist for the band Megadeth. Today he lives in Japan where he has appeared in over 700 TV shows and collaborates with many Japanese musicians.
Yp6aW TIL Kombat is regarded as one of the most iconic Soviet World War II photographs, yet neither the date nor the subject is known with certainty. According to the most widely accepted version, the photograph depicts Aleksei Yeryomenko's counterattack minutes before his death on 12 July 1942.
1am0X TIL DMSO, an organic solvent, has the unusual property that you can "Taste" it by touching it - actually, it directly triggers the nerves that normally react to taste.