› added 9 years ago

346

TIL the guy who optimized web traffic so that sites didn’t crash displaying The Phantom Menace trailer was the first guy killed in 9/11.

Read more cnet.com

via reddit.com

1aBAV TIL Listerine was invented in the nineteenth century as powerful surgical antiseptic. It was later sold, in distilled form, as both a floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea...
X0Omk TIL Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from the blowing desert sand
GYRaJ TIL In the 1950s, the Egyptian Secret Service had their spy in London buy all of the James Bond books so they could analyse British espionage methods believing it was based on reality
XEJw6 TIL most of the USS Indianapolis crew thought the secret crate they were transporting contained 50,000 rolls of scented toilet paper for Gen. MacArthur. They were actually transporting the nuclear bomb 'Little Boy'.
GAlAG TIL that in 1859, the United States controlled almost 70% of the East African copal ("young amber") trade, with Germany controlling about 25% of the market. Copal was used to create wood varnish for furniture and carriages. The U.S. Civil War (1861– 1865) led to Germany taking control of the market.