› added 4 years ago

80

TIL that the Victorians had a machine for making fresh ice cream in under 10 minutes, patented by the 'Queen of Ices' in 1885

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E145o TIL that the human body literally emits light (like fireflies do), but 1/1000 times the sensitivity of naked eyes.The light emission is rhythmatic and peaks at 4 pm.
9Y9aX TIL Japanese Gen. Kuribayashi knew he was facing unsurmountable odds during the invasion of Iwo Jima. He forbade standard Japanese banzai charges, leading an American general to say he was "one smart bastard." At the end, he inflicted 26k American casualties while fighting with "emaciated men."
erD6 TIL of Klaatu, a mystery band so good they were thought to be a secret reunion of The Beatles. The rumors snowballed until they were selling 20,000 copies per day in the U.S. alone, reached the Top 40 Billboard worldwide, and were covered by the biggest artist of the time, until they were found out.
8Mr4 TIL the Russian gov’t drilled a ~15km (49,000 ft) borehole into the Earth’s surface but couldn’t continue due to temperatures in excess of 180 °C (356 °F)
Bvwe TIL that the FBI tried to infiltrate a mosque in Irvine by sending one of their agents to incite terrorism. The people of the mosque reported him to the FBI instead.