› added 6 years ago

292

TIL US veteran's can choose from over 70 symbols of belief for their tombstone including one for atheism, Wicca, the hammer of Thor, and a heart.

Read more cem.va.gov

via reddit.com

mx7Jo TIL some Hungarians refuse to clink beer glasses, as Austrians supposedly did this in 1849 after executing Hungarian rebels. The unofficial ban on clinking beer glasses was 150 years, but many still continue—others maintain the tradition was only popularized by winemakers trying to boost wine sales.
loZKB TIL that during the siege of Tyre in 332 BC, Alexander the Great ordered the construction of a kilometre-long causeway between the island and the Lebanese mainland that, in addition to facilitating the breaking of the siege, collected sediment and turned the island into a peninsula.
R70a6 TIL that on 21 October 1966, a coal mining spoil heap liquefied due to having been placed on top of a mountain spring, and collapsed onto the town of Aberfan, Wales, burying houses and the Pantglas primary school, resulting in the deaths of 116 children, 5 teachers, and 23 residents of the town
nWxJb TIL fleas need to consume blood for maturation of the ovaries in females and the dissolution of the testicular plug in males. However, a blood-only diets allow only 12% of larvae to mature, whereas blood and yeast or dog chow diets allow almost all larvae to mature.
4GDN TIL that until the early 20th century, young boys wore dresses or gowns until around the age of 8, when they reached the age of breeching, an important rite of passage in the lives of small boys when they wore breeches or trousers for the first time.