› added 9 years ago

208

TIL that according to Robert Downey, Jr., they wanted Bill Murray to consider a role in Iron Man, but “nobody could find him.”

Read more esquire.com

via reddit.com

ygE8 TIL A Greek merchant vessel call the “Captayannis” capsized in the middle of the River Clyde in Scotland in 1974, and has remained there ever since as nobody claims responsibility for it. It now homes marine life and birds.
0w67N TIL There is no "Missing Link" in Human Evolution. The term "missing link" has fallen out of favor with biologists because it implies the evolutionary process is a linear phenomenon and that forms originate consecutively in a chain. Instead, the term Last Common Ancestor is preferred.
8agBZ TIL The Uniform Monday Holiday Act (Pub.L. 90–363, 82 Stat. 250) is an Act of Congress that amended the federal holiday provisions of the United States Code to establish the observance of certain holidays on Mondays (including Memorial Day, formerly May 30th). Signed: 6/28/1968; Effective: 1/1/1971
W7RBY TIL In 36 BCE, Roman statesman Marcus Varro wrote about germs, describing “minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, which…enter the body through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases.” The germ theory of disease would not be accepted widely for another 1,900 years.
ZYOG TIL In 1518, a “dancing plague” struck Strasbourg, Alsace, whereby hundreds of people danced fervently in the streets over the period of a month. Some suffered heart attacks or strokes, and many others died from sheer exhaustion. It remains unexplained.