› added 9 years ago

144

TIL that during the cold war, when navy divers repairing a whale enclosure heard a human-like voice saying “out, out, out,” and got out of the water to see nobody, they found out that a beluga whale named “Noc” had learned to mimic human speech and was trying to communicate with them.

6Ekx8 TIL the origins and etymology of the name "Samantha" are uncertain. It first appeared on record in the 17th century, but was was very rare until it became popular through a novel in the 19th century. It fell out of use again until "Bewitched" aired in 1964, which made it popular once more
MmyA TIL that in Los Angeles in 1994, after an eathquake-induced power outage, calls came into emergency centers about a “giant silvery cloud.” It was the Milky Way.
YEn7 TIL Martin Luther King Jr. convinced actress Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) to not quit her role on the original series of ‘Star Trek’ because he believes that showing a black woman work alongside white men would help achieve racial equality.
yQ7Pa TIL of Freud's patient diagnosed with hysteria based on menstrual symptoms. A surgeon friend claimed he could cure it with nose surgery. Surgery botched, left her hemorrhaging and disfigured. Freud claimed her hemorrhage is "wish-bleeding" caused by a hysterical longing for the affection of others.
GY1j5 TIL The Spanish word Olé! is a mispronunciation of the Islamic god “ Allah”!, when dancers performed particularly well, the Islamic Moors ( who ruled over Spain) would yell “ Allah! Allah!”