TIL that IQ test scores globally rose significantly from their introduction until the mid-1990s, after which they likely have started to decline
Flynn effect - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect
TIL skinned frog legs were the common scientific instrument used to detect electricity throughout the 18th and 19th centuries
Frog galvanoscope - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog_galvanoscope
TIL Roman hours were not a fixed length of time but always just ¹⁄₁₂th of the daytime, so during the summer an hour could be 1½ modern hours while during the winter it could only be 40 minutes
TIL that in 1866, one year after the end of the Civil War, one fifth of Mississippi's budget was spent on prosthetic limbs
The Civil War: Just How It Affected Mississippi - SuperTalk Mississippi
https://www.supertalk.fm/the-civil-war-just-how-did-it-affect-mississippi/
JACKSON, Miss.– The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865, to determine the survival of the Union or the independence of the Confederacy. The seven slave states known as the Confederacy initially seceded from the rest of the country. The 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War is this...
TIL 55% of people have 3 bones in their pinky toes and 44% have 2 bones
ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1268773112000446
TIL 70% of Saudi Arabia's electrical consumption is used for air conditioning
Measures for more energy-efficient air conditioning in Saudi Arabia
https://refindustry.com/news/market-news/measures-for-more-energy-efficient-air-conditioning-in-saudi-arabia/
According to a recent article, Saudi Arabia has the world’s highest share of air conditioning (AC) in household electricity consumption, at 70%. This compares with 57% in the United Arab Emirates, 25% in the U.S., 20% in Malaysia, 18% ...
TIL charged alkaline batteries don't bounce but dead ones do
Amazing Way to Test Batteries!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_m6p99l6ME
Here is a simple and amazing way to test any alkaline battery without tools! Works in seconds! Try it!Looks like bajarider1000 did this before me so thanks f...
TIL in the 1930s a street sweeper in Detroit was hit by two separate babies falling out of fourth-story windows a year apart.
https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,848363,00.html#:~:text=Coincidence%20In%20Detroit,the%20same%20results.
TIL that since MIT doesn't issue honorary degrees, Matt Damon received an honorary pirate certificate for his 2016 commencement speech
Arrrr! MIT Pirates—and Matt Damon—Certified
https://alum.mit.edu/slice/arrrr-mit-pirates-and-matt-damon-certified
The “swashbuckling" Institute has certified more than 350 students and alumni as official MIT pirates after they completed specific PE courses, but actual pirating is limited to entertainment purposes only.
TIL that, although rhubarb leaves are poisonous, you would have to eat several pounds in one sitting to reach a potentially lethal level
Does Rhubarb Deserve Its Killer Reputation?
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/does-rhubarb-deserve-its-killer-reputation
Rhubarb is next to impossible to kill. Here in northern Vermont, rhubarb is about the first thing that …
