Many, if not most, of you out there have read Frank Herbert’s classic Dune, or are at least familiar with the sprawling universe he created over the course of numerous novels (a mantle his son Brian Herbert has picked up). We’re talking about a big ass book.…

founder of Alcoholics Anonymous

This hairstyle is steeped in the history of rebellion and redemption.

An article from the Wednesday, January 7, 1998 issue of The Tech - MIT's oldest and largest newspaper and the first newspaper published on the Internet.

Abdulaziz (1875–1953), the founder and first king of Saudi Arabia, was very young when he first married. However his wife died shortly after their marriage. Abdulaziz remarried at eighteen and his firstborn child was Turki. He had 45 sons of whom 36 survived…

proposed plan to rescue Finnish refugees

American musician

flood in Oregon, Nevada, and California, occurring from December 1861 to January 1862

The decision to shoot and kill a polar bear which appeared in Iceland on Saturday night conformed to official procedure and was an “easy decision” for police to take, it has emerged.

Check out some surprising facts about this iconic event.

Wikimedia list article

Growing up, who didn’t have Velveeta cheese in the pantry? It was crucial for making queso, the ideal ingredient for quick mac and cheese, and melted

overview of names for the Southeast Asian state

An expert is warning about a modern-day phenomenon called phantom vibration syndrome, where people think their mobile phone is ringing or vibrating when it's not. WebMD has the details.

If your house was built before 1970, it's very likely that there are razor blades in your walls. Here's why.

· Gene mutation that blocks signs of damage identified · Scientists hope study may lead to new treatments

Literally meanings slipper, this famous bread comes from Verona in the North-East of Italy. Its history is very recent as it was invented in 1982 by Arnaldo Cavallari, a baker who was looking for a bread to outcome the popularity of baguettes used in sandwiches.…

Villagers in central China spent decades digging up bones they believed belonged to flying dragons and using them in traditional medicines. Turns out the bones belonged to dinosaurs, and now scientists are doing the digging.

We describe the discovery of Kepler-16b, the first widely accepted detection of a circumbinary planet.

Posted in r/todayilearned by u/AmandaDivaBaethoven • 484 points and 46 comments

10 surprising facts about the French hero of the American Revolution.