› added 5 years ago

81

TIL Ornithologists believe birds rub ants on their wings as the formic acid that the ants release may kill feather lice

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

e0NN5 TIL early on in the Space Shuttle program, flights had a 1 in 9 chance of ending in a catastrophic failure based on recent risk analysis
l7Xda TIL that in 1982, the U.S. State of Oregon sued the organiser of a backgammon tournament, arguing that the game was illegal gambling. The judge ruled against the state, saying that backgammon is a game of skill.
9YaRp TIL in Ancient Egypt, cats were bred not as pets, but for ritual mummification. Puppy farms and other animal breeding programmes were a huge industry that provided a stock of animals to be killed and mummified as an offering to the gods and to keep the dead company
9mvD TIL that ‘The Princess Bride’ had a proposed sequel of which one chapter was written called 'Buttercup’s Baby.’ It involved the kidnapping of the baby and ended with Fezzik sacrificing his life to save her.
v1adL TIL that test audiences for 'Good Night, and Good Luck' complained that the actor playing Joseph McCarthy was over the top. They didn't realize that it wasn't an actor, but archival footage of McCarthy himself.