› added 6 years ago

191

TIL that the name of the Royal Navy ship HMS Petard means "HMS Fart". A petard is a small bomb that derives its name from middle French for “to break wind.” Pun-loving Shakespeare probably knew this when he wrote “hoist with his own petard” - or to be blasted with his own fart

Read more navalhistory.org

via reddit.com

JLKB TIL Wes Craven says his inspiration for the basis of Freddy Krueger’s power stemmed from several stories in the Los Angeles Times about a series of mysterious deaths: All the victims had reported recurring nightmares and died in their sleep.
6Ex9W TIL each person who becomes 100 years old receives a congratulatory letter signed by the President with a gift cheque of €2,540 in Ireland. This custom is called the "Centenarian Bounty" and also applies to foreign national residents of the country.
b9OD9 TIL All male Anglerfish will starve to death as virgins if they do not find and bite the belly of a female where they will remain permanently attached, nourished by her blood, and breathing through their own gills. Their eyes and fins atrophy away. And they must forever provide sperm on demand.
0dg81 TIL after multiple disputes with his town Marvin Heemeyer constructed a concrete/steel armor-plated bulldozer “Killdozer” to destroy those who had sided against him. His rampage destroyed 13 buildings & was unstoppable by Police/SWAT until the dozer stalled. He killed himself & was the only casualty
QNNVe TIL that the Pacific island of Guadalcanal and the Mexican city of Guadalajara have the same origin - the originally Arabic word wādī meaning valley.