› added 10 years ago

142

TIL Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, invented the girls’ name Vanessa.

Read more interestingliterature.com

via reddit.com

1aeD7 TIL A cow is not a cow until it has had at least one calf. Until then it is called a heifer.
p8d4Z TIL In 2011 billionaire Oprah Winfrey found out she has a sister she never knew existed and now takes care of her financially because Oprah was so impressed by her sisters loyalty. She spent 4 years trying to contact Oprah with no luck and never once tried to sell the story to the press.
oweE TIL there was an illegal crematorium disguised as a ceramics plant. It was discovered when a man calling in to complain about the smell said,“Don’t tell me they’re not burning bodies. I was at the ovens at Auschwitz.”
grL94 TIL the word "alabaster" does not involve the Greek root word "aster" (star) like I assumed, but is named because the material was used to create vessels that depicted the Egyptian goddess "Bast" and were found in the region called "Alabastron".
7r4KM TIL In 1990 Rob Halford of Judas Priest testified in a lawsuit brought against him and the band regarding subliminal lyrics and backwards masking being causative in the gruesome suicides of two young fans. Rob testified that the sounds were actually him breathing during the recording.