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TIL about Jack London. Oyster pirate, Socialist, and rail rider. Berkeley attendee, trekked the Yukon and Chilkoot Pass, took a rowboat 1500 miles down the Yukon River to the Bering Sea. Built his own yacht and mansion and wrote 23 novels, 7 plays, short stories, and poems. Died of alcoholism age 40

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rRGoe TIL Sweden and Spain got into an argument in 1434 about who was more Gothic and deserving of higher honors. The Swedes claimed direct descent from the Goths. The Spanish claimed that only lazy Goths had stayed in Scandinavia while the heroic ones conquered Spain.
4kb0J TIL about the Cobra effect, referring to a time in the British Raj when people were offered a bounty for every dead cobra. Soon, ppl started breeding cobras for a reward which in turn forced the government to stop the rewards. In response, people released their captive cobras into the wild.
d8A7 TIL that Leonard Cohen wrote over 80 verses for his widely-coverd song “Hallelujah.” The version recorded by former Velvet Underground member John Cale, the first of over 100 recorded covers and the basis for the iconic Jeff Buckley rendition, was made from 15 pages of lyrics faxed to him by Cohen.
JJ91 TIL Sponge bob’s “Bikini Bottom” takes place under a nuclear bomb testing site used in the 40’s called Bikini Atoll (Island at beginning of each episode) Several episodes were made specifically referencing Bikini Atoll, which could mean some characters are results of nuclear mutation. See Production
0d55A TIL that during the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix, F1 driver Martin Donnelly survived a terrifying 140 mph crash that flung him onto the track while still strapped to his seat, as his car split in half. His injuries were so severe that a priest was called to administer last rites. He survived.