› added 1 month ago

7

TIL that the Emperor Vespasian issued out a tax on urine collected from public toilets

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via reddit.com

xYJb TIL that Eli Whitney’s cotton gin is short for “cotton engine”.
jXNv TIL British Royal Navy pilot Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown holds the world record for most aircraft carrier landings - 2,407. The US Navy gave one man the specific job of breaking the record. He got up to 1,600 and then had a nervous breakdown.
0OaN TIL that in 2014, three mycologists (fungus experts) from Kew Gardens in England, analysed the DNA of a supermarket packet of dried porcini mushrooms and found three species unknown to science.
vPwBj TIL that penguins propose with pebbles! Male penguins find the smoothest rock they can and offer it to their mate as a way to start building a family together.
XEBV6 TIL that David Bowie was turned down by a BBC talent selection group just before his breakthrough, stating “amateur sounding vocalist who sings wrong notes and out of tune”.