x6g71 TIL that the first widely sold car rearview mirror wasn't a safety device. Instead, the 'Cop-Spotter' was intended to help you avoid the police. After the product launched in 1921, mirrors in cars grew increasingly popular, eventually being recognised as an essential safety feature.
epvkJ TIL: A hip hop group named "the Coup" planned to release an album named "Party Music" in September 2001 with the following cover, which was created in June 2001. Due to the September 11 attacks, the album was postponed until November 2001 to create a new cover.
VBrK8 TIL In Thai Culture, it's considered bad luck to give someone a watch or clock as a gift
X0YL8 TIL The Great Male Renunciation is responsible for why male fashion is much less extravagant than female fashion in the western world. When during the enlightenment male clothing became utilitarian.
OGXJR TIL: In 1989, during Operation Just Cause, the U.S. military surrounded the Apostolic Nunciature in Panama while trying to capture Manuel Noriega. U.S. forces blasted loud rock music—including "I Fought the Law" by the Clash—to put pressure on Noriega to give himself up
69r8J TIL that there is a museum called Real Bodies: The Exhibition in Las Vegas that exhibits real human bodies preserved through a process called plastination. This allowed for full body displays in dynamic poses.
wogn1 TIL about the Ethiopic term "abugida" - a segmental writing system in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as units; a consonant letter being primary in the unit, and vowel notation being secondary. Letters with shared consonant sounds show resemblance to one another.
R5PLQ TIL when Julius Caesar died, he bequeathed his gardens "to the people as a place of recreation" and 75 Attic drachmas (roughly $350 in 2024) to every Roman living in the city.
W7BgA TIL about theyellow crazy ant - a invasive species of ants that look "crazy" when disturbed as they start to move erratically.
9wErX TIL in 2016 the first adult great white shark (an 11.5-foot male) to ever be exhibited by an aquarium died after spending just 3 days in captivity.
nWgkP TIL: In the 80’s an Indian factory leaked toxic gas which floated to the nearby slums and killed thousands.
4kleJ TIL In 1960, about 15 years after the atomic bombings, Oppenheimer embarked on a lecture tour across Japan, stopping in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka