› added 11 years ago

69

TIL that shortening is called shortening because it creates shorter strands of gluten in dough, which in turn makes the dough less stretchy.

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oBN67 TIL the origin of the phrase “hold a candle to”. When a craftsman and their apprentice would work in the dark, and the apprentice would hold a candle so the master could see. Telling someone they can’t even hold a candle for you, let alone do the complicated job you’re doing, is insulting.
4kLV6 TIL European rabbits are our most destructive invasive species in Australia. They impact over 300 threatened native species and even boost the number of predators like cats and foxes.
QNXaM TIL Heder Lamarr was not only a fantastic actress, but an engineer as well. And she helped developed what would become WiFi.
woyn6 TIL the Canadian Government once approved a plan to extract oil from the Alberta oilsands using nukes, and the project only died because public opinion on nuclear devices soured after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
R5wW7 TIL that in 1577 Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sagagún completed his Manuscript, The Florentine Codex, making it the most reliable source of information about Mexican culture, the Aztec Empire, and the conquest of Mexico.