› added 13 years ago

165

TIL that 1% of static on an untuned analog TV is from cosmic background radiation from the Big Bang

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1nvV TIL each pawn in chess used to have its own name, after one of several commoners’ occupations.
D1k8r TIL about the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans. Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt were denied from participating. They then decided to start drinking. When they were reinstated, they drove drunk, broke the average speed record and won the race!
E1Zex TIL that the word 'bald' in 'bald eagle' has nothing to do with the definition as a lack of hair. Rather, the term bald eagle is derived in English from the word 'piebald', in reference to their white heads and tail feathers in contrast to the darker color of the rest of their bodies.
7Ka7 TIL that Humpty Dumpty was never explicitly described as an egg. That was added later by illustrators in the book.
BgZxk TIL sportswriter Henry Chadwick (b. 1824), the "Father of Baseball" is credited with creating "K" as the designation for a strikeout. K is the middle sound of the word "strikeout", and other potential letters (S, T, R, I) already had meanings in baseball.