› added 10 years ago

251

TIL that Simon the cat, a feline aboard Royal Navy Ship “The Amethyst” was awarded The Dickin Medal for gallantry under fire. The gallantry? He protected the ship’s food supplies from an infestation of rats.

Read more news.bbc.co.uk

via reddit.com

dDXl7 TIL The 10k steps a day benchmark was actually just a marketing campaign from a Japanese company called Yamasa who made the first wearable pedometer
rNKyW TIL Brian Eno created Ambient music while recovering from an accident. A record was playing too quietly and he was unable to leave his bed to increase the volume. Only just being able to hear the music over the outside rain gave him the idea for music that didn't impose itself on someone's space.
Yp11Z TIL the Pentagon was built in less than a year and a half and was only supposed to be temporary
wJ7P TIL there are only 2 escalators in the entire state of Wyoming
PYvme TIL there are three species of wasp from Papua New Guinea that for some reason are each named after a presenter from Top Gear; Kereveta clarksoni, Kereveta hammoni and Kerevata jamesmayi