TIL that Stephen Hawking used a single cheek muscle to communicate. A sensor attached to his glasses detected these movements which in turn moved a cursor on a screen that utilized predictive text. Much of this text was personalised to Hawking and was based on phrases he had previously used
TIL that a flight had to make an emergency landing because fire alarms went off, but it was actually just a bunch of goats farting.
TIL in 2008 nearly half of Liechtenstein's labor force were daily commuters from nearby countries - Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
TIL in 1972, Nintendo launched the "Lefty RX", a remote-controlled car that could ONLY make left turns due to a deliberately cheap design. It ended up being a tremendous success, and influenced Nintendo focusing on fun over next-gen-tech in future video game consoles.
TIL that after alcohol prohibition, patent applications from formerly "wet" counties dropped 12-13%. (P. 44)
TIL the oldest documented club dedicated to football in the world was the Foot-Ball Club of Edinburgh (1824- 1841), and surving records describe a match involving 39 players and "such kicking of shins"
TIL that all cacti are native to the New World, or the Americas. Only one species now grows natively on the Atlantic's other side as well. It's a type of mistletoe cactus and is found in Africa and Sri Lanka, thought to have been introduced by traders or birds.
TIL the explosion that led to the Chernobyl nuclear accident was chemical, driven by gases and steam generated by the core runaway, not by nuclear reactions. No commercial nuclear reactor contains a high enough concentration of U-235 or plutonium to cause a nuclear explosion.
TIL In French Polynesia, there are two islands separated by a bridge called Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti. This roughly translates to "Big Vagina" and "Little Vagina".