TIL Pom-pom hats are not only cute addition to a hat, but were useful to French sailors. When the waters got rough, the pom-poms on their hats kept them from hitting their heads on the low roofs of the boats. https://ift.tt/6yIDYmW

TIL of the Antikythera Mechanism, a device discovered from a shipwreck in Greece. It has a calendar, star charts, planetary alignments, moon phases, etc. It is estimated to be created in first or second century BC. https://ift.tt/JboYpTH

TIL: After traveling more than 1 billion miles, a Japanese spacecraft brought 1,500 grains from an asteroid back to Earth in 2010. It was the first time samples from an asteroid had been brought back to Earth. https://ift.tt/YK9UdBp

TIL When you flush a soiled toilet a plume of germs sprays up into the air. https://ift.tt/Ee4u5Q7

TIL The most powerful wind turbine generator worldwide today generates 14,7MW of electricity. It was developed for offshore wind farms https://ift.tt/nSvfBl5

TIL that the line "You gotta keep 'em separated" in The Offspring's song "Come Out and Play" came from when singer Dexter Holland worked in a biology lab. He had two steaming flasks of liquid that weren't cooling off when placed next to each other, so he thought, "I've got to keep 'em separated." https://ift.tt/fF0IpKY

TIL Liquid Helium is the perfect element to keep the superconductive magnets in MRI machines cold https://ift.tt/f72VzMx

TIL Mother black bears do not typically attack to defend their cubs. https://ift.tt/Jy4PkuX

TIL: The text written on the Rosetta Stone is known as the Decree of Memphis. It was written to confirm the royal cult of Ptolemy V (196 BC). Although the Rosetta Stone is the most well known example of the decree, 13 other copies exist. The decree was to be displayed in temples throughout Egypt. https://ift.tt/vyF8zBc

TIL 5,200 tons of space dust falls on Earth every year https://ift.tt/OvBe5Zq

TIL Jim Nabors, the actor who played titular character of Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., couldn't watch the shows opening credits anymore as many of the actual Marines he was shown with were killed in action during Vietnam https://ift.tt/YJi43IR

TIL that John the blind, king of Bohemia, led a calvary charge at the battle of crecy in 1346. He tied his reins to other knights to maintain his direction. All were unhorsed and killed. https://ift.tt/TExDmjp

TIL There's a festival in Spain called 'El Colacho' where they lay newborn babies out in the street, after which men dressed in red and yellow costumes run and hurdle over them. This is meant to cleanse the babies of original sin and protect them in their future lives. https://ift.tt/MYxtTPG

TIL Jay-Z managed to obtain the permission to have a sample from Annie on "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" by writing the copyright holder a letter about his childhood trip to see the Broadway musical. However, the letter was a fib and Jay-Z had never seen the show. https://ift.tt/GTAqUW8

TIL Washington Irving, the Author of The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow, inadvertently named Gotham City. https://ift.tt/E24nL7z

TIL Charles Barkley was friends with, and went - unannounced - to the funeral of, a cat litter scientist https://ift.tt/6gpZSMn

TIL the RTX 4090 has nearly 50% greater computing speed than the most powerful supercomputer of 2004 https://ift.tt/y2zonAl

TIL, in The Blair Witch Project, the reason they never show the witch on camera is that the cameraman forgot to pan to the left https://ift.tt/QLGR19v

TIL each element on the Periodic Table corresponds to one solution of the main equation in the field of quantum mechanics & that the entire field of chemistry emerged from that single equation. https://ift.tt/0o3Y9Un

TIL it took ~400,000 years following the Big Bang for the Universe to cool down enough to allow atoms to form https://ift.tt/oKRstEy

TIL the Empire State Building opened during the Depression, and took 20 years to become profitable. https://ift.tt/6iypHah