› added 8 years ago

151

TIL that “Hello Kitty” has no mouth. The mouthless phenomenon is “so that people who look at her can project their own feelings onto her face, because she has an expressionless face. Kitty looks happy when people are happy. She looks sad when they are sad.“

Read more thefrisky.com

via ift.tt

OGMa1 TIL that the founders of video game maker "Acclaim" named their company so it would be listed alphabetically before their former employer "Activision" and before "Accolade" another company founded by ex-Activison employees. Activison itself was founded by ex-Atari employees based on the same logic.
PYwMJ TIL in 1721, the now-Lutheran Danish sent missionaries to Greenland, as it was assumed the medieval Norse settlers must still be Catholic or had reverted to paganism. The Norse had died out in the early 1400s, but the Danes found Inuit there instead
EK5o TIL that Miyamoto Musashi, a Japanese rōnin born in the Tenshō era, had such faith in his own swordsmanship that he used a wooden sword regardless of the foe’s weapon. Additionally, Miyamoto killed an opponent with a sword that legend says he carved from an oar.
Lkrw0 TIL It is not necessary to clean the lens or mirror of a telescope if it just has a few visible specks of dust. Overly frequent or aggressive cleaning can actually damage and prematurely age the special coatings on mirrors and lenses–permanently degrading their performance
x6P8b TIL Potatoes boulangère gets its name from an old practice in French villages, where householders without their own ovens would take the prepared dish to the village bakery. After the baker had finished making his bread, the potato dish would cook slowly while the oven gradually died down