› added 12 years ago

51

TIL that in 2001, Neopets was the fourth most trafficked website on the internet, 8 spots in front of Google.

Read more blog.compete.com

via reddit.com

XEGDr TIL Mother’s Day was originally a day for women to protest the killing of their sons and husbands in US Civil War
JYOYv TIL Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huangdi died eating mercury pills that were supposed to prolong his life. Afraid that news of his death would cause a revolt, his trusted advisors transported his body back to his palace among barrels of rotten fish, to mask the smell.
lBWN TIL Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Baker was gravely wounded and had his comrades leave him behind, propped up against a tree with a pistol that had 8 bullets remaining. Later they found his body next to the tree, surrounded by 8 dead Japanese soldiers
kJwRe TIL during Zhu Di's rebellion against the Ming dynasty, as he was besieging Jinan and bombarding the city with cannons, the defenders put plaques with the name of Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Di's father and the Ming dynasty's first emperor) written on them on the walls, forcing Zhu Di to stop the siege.
MoQB TIL that individuals with the “strong tasters” gene variant are less likely to be smokers.