› added 6 years ago

182

TIL that the original purpose of the hood ornament on a car, before they were artistic and ornate, was a visible thermometer for the car's coolant. Image in comments.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

lR9r TIL the first empire in history, the neo-Assyrian empire, was expanded by people who had the worldview that as long as they continued winning battles, the world would not end. After 300 years, they lost a battle, and their empire collapsed
Vky0 TIL that if the Andromeda Galaxy were visible to the naked eye, it would be six times larger than the moon in the night sky
Y7km7 TIL surgical genital mutilation is performed on 80.5% of male babies in the United States. The rate is about 99% in a number of Muslim countries.
lo0WV TIL about the HMS "Black Joke" a brazillion slave ship that was captured by British Admiralty and repurposed to hunt slave ships. Over it's five year career it is believed to have freed hundreds of slaves after its renaming from "Henriquetta"
R7Ql4 TIL That Oxford University is older than the Aztec Empire.