/f/todayilearned
TIL that in 2003, the chief officer of the German-owned cargo ship RMS Mülheim got into difficulties while on watch. His trousers caught in his chair mechanism and while trying to free himself he tripped and knocked himself unconscious. The ship grounded on rocks while he was out and later broke up
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by YalsonKSA t3_zv3pue
TIL Anvil firing is the practice of exploding an anvil into the air. Anvils are typically fired as a celebration, be it to honor St. Clement's (the Patron Saint of blacksmiths) or in a 21 anvil salut as found in New Westminster, British Columbia.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jamescookenotthatone t3_11e410x
Submitted by sturnus-vulgaris t3_yvi5jd
TIL Of the Bre-X fraud. The Canadian mining company was a penny stock that reportedly found billions of dollars of gold in Indonesia. The stock skyrocketed but collapsed following the suicide of one of the geologists and discovery that the core samples were salted.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jamescookenotthatone t3_yvuzym
TIL Douglas Engelbart never received any royalties for the invention of the mouse. In an interview he said "SRI (Stanford Research Institute) patented the mouse, but they had no idea of its value. Some years later it was known that they had licensed it to Apple Computer for something like $40,000."
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by whoiskamalsingh t3_zvkb3m
TIL that the fragrance/perfume given as a gift to the Marquis de Lafayette by George Washington, is still produced by the same manufacturer today. The fragrance has been worn by Washington, John Quincy Adams, JFK, George Gershwin, and countless others.
caswellmassey.comSubmitted by mcmcplok t3_yeao9p
TIL that Barq's Root Beer was first created by Edward Barq in Biloxi, Miss, in 1897. In 1934, Barq and a former employee, who moved to New Orleans, agreed to each distribute their own version of the root beer, with the New Orleans version having a red label and the Biloxi version having a blue one.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jdward01 t3_120jyfr
TIL a "bum gun" is a type of bidet that resembles a garden hose with a hand-spray nozzle. They're so commonly found in Thailand (both Western-style and squat toilets) that politicians were outraged upon learning their parliamentary building didn't have what some refer to as "ass blasters".
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Torley_ t3_zzvknh
TIL Amedeo Avogadro's contribution to chemistry, known as Avogadro's law, did not initially receive much attention when he published his paper in 1811. It was only a century later that his work was recognized, when the King of Italy attended a meeting commemorating the paper's 100th anniversary.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by dustofoblivion123 t3_ycu19z
TIL to decide what measurement system America should use, John Quincy Adams took 3 1/2 years to produce a 268 page Report on Weights and Measures that ultimately concluded changing to the French metric system would be too difficult for the young nation. Congress took no action on the report.
shannonselin.comSubmitted by iamveryDerp t3_10m91c7
Submitted by shyyyyme t3_10goien