› added 11 years ago

94

TIL At the urging of radio host Jean Shepherd, listeners entered bookstores and asked for a book that did not exist. So many people took part in this hoax that the book was soon on The New York Times Best Seller list.

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9mXp TIL: When Albert Einstein published his Theory of General Relativity, the New York Times sent their golfing correspondent to interview him.
loV5K TIL that orchids are named for the Greek órkhis, literally meaning "testicle." The name is for the shape of the root. NSFW
D1PQV TIL the baby boomer generation was labelled the 'Me Generation' in the 70s and was described as a 'culture of narcissism' by writers and journalists at the time.
7rA7r TIL The Queen of England can fire the entire Australian government. In 1975 her representative in Australia fired the prime minister of Australia and the rest of parliament in response to a government shutdown. There hasn’t been another shutdown since.
9wwjp TIL that in Des Moines, Iowa (population 215k) has seven parking spots for every citizen. At any time, Des Moines could park 45% of Iowa's population.