› added 5 years ago

105

TIL citizens of the Dutch city Zwolle are colloquially known as Bluefingers due to the 1682 sale of the town church's bells to the town of Kampen. After finding the bells too damaged for use, Kampen paid Zwolle entirely in pennies; fingers in Zwolle turned blue after counting so much change.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

rw40 TIL wasps have complete voluntary control over the sex of their offspring.
b94aN TIL Soap and water don't kill germs; they work by mechanically removing them from your hands. Running water by itself does a pretty good job of germ removal, but soap increases the overall effectiveness by pulling unwanted material off the skin and into the water.
LkEb0 TIL that it was Thomas Jefferson was a serious foodie, who introduced America to waffles, Mac and cheese, Parmesan, olive oil, and champagne.
grDAA TIL that Montgomery, Alabama, is named after a different, unrelated person than the namesake of Montgomery County even though the city is the seat of the county.
xKOo TIL that Stephen Hawking claimed that the egg came before the chicken.