› added 4 years ago

178

TIL that in the US 2x4 timber isn't 2x4, it's nominally 1 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches due historical practices in the lumber industry. And hardwood is different again and sold in board feet.

Read more thesprucecrafts.com

via reddit.com

b9WPE TIL Greek Folklore says kids born between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6) are considered doomed to become kallikantzaros, a kind of half-human, half-demon vampire - with talons that lives in the underworld and comes back to Earth to tear its family members to pieces during the Christmas holidays.
jNaZE TIL of a woman who nearly lost custody of her three children when DNA tests in a paternity test proved her ex-husband was the father, but ruled her out as the mother. She had a rare condition called chimerism, where she absorbed her paternal unborn twin in the womb, and carried two sets of DNA.
ANGQn TIL Last year, Anguilla’s government made about US$32 million from fees collected for registering .ai domains. That amounted to more than 10 per cent of gross domestic product for the territory.
9wDKD TIL about Wang Enlin, a Chinese farmer who self-taught law to sue a chemical company for polluting his village—and won.
ANGBa TIL In 1954, the CIA ordered Carcano rifle ammo for anti-communist forces. The leftover ammo and rifles were re-imported and sold wholesale to the public, including to Lee Harvey Oswald, who used them to assassinate JFK.