TIL the earliest known account of Christianity from a non-Christian source is a letter (112 AD) of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan, asking for advice on dealing with a new and 'extravagant superstition' that had spread to several cities in Northern Turkey. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by SvanteArrheniusAMA
TIL In October 1809 Friedrich Staps attempted to assassinate Napoleon but was captured. Napoleon himself interrogated the would be assassin. On the possibility of being pardoned Staps said, ‘I would notwithstanding seize the first opportunity of taking your life.’ and he was executed on the 17th. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by jamescookenotthatone
TIL: Thanks to poor internal communication at NASA, information about a spacesuit water leak wasn't properly communicated. Later, Astronaut Luca Parmitano almost drowned on a July, 2013 ISS space walk, his helmet filling with several liters of water before they could get him back inside. (abcnews.go.com)
submitted by OvidPerl
TIL the phrase "pulling out all the stops" is derived from pipe organs, which have many levers called 'stops' which allow the organist to control the volume and timbre of different pipes. Pulling out all the stops would result in the loudest, most comprehensive sound. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by TenF
TIL that the Adventures of Pinocchio was originally published in weekly instalments in an Italian Children's magazine. It was cancelled after 15 chapters, but due to popular demand from readers the series returned and was given a proper conclusion. The stories were then collected as a novel in 1883. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by AporiaParadox
TIL That when Jeanette Rankin took her seat as Montana's Congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives in 1917, she became the first woman ever elected to sit in a national parliament. To date, she is also the only woman ever elected to represent Montana in Congress. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by JJKingwolf
TIL of the Bolvano Train Disaster which claimed the lives of more than 500 people in 1944. After the train became stalled in a tunnel, the passengers and crew succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning when the locomotives attempted to continue and filled the tunnel with smoke. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by MorsOmnibusCommunis