› added 10 years ago

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TIL the Greek name for the Mosquito is Anopheles, translating to “good-for-nothing”

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nvpB TIL in a 2012 Honduras prison fire inmates broke through wood and zinc ceilings to escape the fire only to find themselves being shot at by guards who feared a jail break. 355 prisoners were killed.
kObW5 TIL that the first known reference to mutual simultaneous oragenitalism as "69" is in the 1790s French book Whore's Catechisms, attributed to Mlle. Théroigne de Méricourt (one the early leaders of the French Revolution), where it is named "soixante-neuf"
yQkOM TIL that in a creative writing assignment titled "Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapses", a student at a local High School predicted the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse on November 6, 1940. The bridge collapsed November 7, 1940.
R841 TIL that a man robbing a Sprint store painted his face gold as a disguise. Afterwards he was having trouble breathing and died wheezing shortly after the robbery took place. And the witnesses were still able to identify him making his “disguise” useless.
dDEK TIL that when Space Invaders was released in Japanese arcades in 1978, it caused a nationwide shortage of 100 Yen coins.