› added 9 years ago

101

TIL: Most people use the word ‘antisocial’ incorrectly. Antisocial refers to behavior that harms other people/the society. Asocial is the word people mean to use when referring to not wanting/having social relationships or interactions.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

d8WD9 TIL of the "Brussels effect", which is when EU laws end up raising the standards of regulations worldwide, simply because the EU market is so massive and it's less of a hassle for businesses to just fully adopt EU standards even in non-EU countries
O90e TIL in 1868, samurai killed 11 French sailors. Over 30 samurai were ordered to commit suicide for the injustice; when the number was reduced to 20, the indignant samurai cut out their own intestines and flung them at the French. The sentence was then reduced to 11
paeG TIL that modern English surnames were given between the 12th and 14th centuries for taxation purposes in England, and were based on parentage (eg Donaldson), location (eg Wood, Lane), personal attributes (eg Short, Long) and occupation (Smith, Miller).
BrX6W TIL that every year in Madrid, Spain, a sleeping contest is held. Contestants’ pulse are measured throughout the contest and whoever manages to sleep the most out of the 20 minutes duration wins the event.
1a4gO TIL of Valerie Browning - a woman who with her husband Ishmael has been serving the people of Afar, Ethiopia (one of the hottest places on earth) since 1973. She grew up in Armidale, New South Wales. She has been providing medicine, food and education to the people living there.