› added 4 years ago

84

TIL in 1817 a woman posed as the fictional Princess Caraboo of Javasu. She fooled a small British town for months into believing she was a princess who had been captured by pirates, jumped overboard in the British Channel and swam ashore. She was later recognised as a cobbler's daughter from Devon.

kOlYW TIL Though the royal figures on modern playing cards do not represent actual people, names were assigned to them: Charlemagne (hearts), David (spades), Caesar (diamonds), and Alexander (clubs). The names of the queens — Judith or Judic (hearts), Pallas (spades), Rachel (diamonds), and Argine (clubs)
keE TIL in Indiana and Tennessee, it is illegal for a man to have an erection in public
VM9lZ TIL Hipparchia of Maroneia demanded to marry cynic philosopher Crates despite her parents objecting. Crates, removed his clothes in front of her parents and declared "this is the bridegroom and this is his property". They got married and lived in the streets as cynics, often having sex in public
dD4lE TIL while studying flight or fight a biologist grouped guppies in 3 categories "bold" (inspect threat), ordinary (hide), timid (flee). He then put a bass in with the guppies, 40 percent of the timid guppies and 15 percent of the ordinary guppies survived while none of the bold guppies did.
neYxb TIL: Thomas Edison tested over 1,600 different materials to find the right filament for the inside of his lightbulbs including coconut fiber, fishing line, and hair, Edison and his team eventually figured out that carbonized bamboo was the best material for the job.