› added 10 years ago

106

TIL that silent reading wasn’t common prior to the 4th century, and that Saint Ambrose was one of the first people to practise it.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

NNo8 TIL that the West Point Class of 1915 became known as “the class the stars fell on”. Of the 164 members of the class, 59 attained the rank of general, including Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley.
J1ykv TIL that our DNA is full of genes that no longer work. Called pseudogenes, many have "good" versions in other species. For example GULO allows most animals to make their own vitamin C. Our version is GULOP, and is broken. Freakily, there are about as many pseudogenes as working genes in human DNA.
JYjxl TIL when the Nintendo 64 was released in North America on September 29th 1996, a mere two games were available at launch: Pilot Wings 64, and Super Mario 64. There would not be another release for over a month.
RDw6 TIL German shepherds where renamed to “Alsatian Wolf Dog” after World War I due to the anti-German sentiment of the era.
awkvy TIL the daughter of the first interracially married couple in Mississippi is a lesbian who fought for marriage equality