TIL a monkey's fist knot is used as the weight in heaving a line between ship and dock. Recognizing their potential, drunken sailors began using them as melee weapons in street and bar fights with the knot eventually being adopted by street gangs of the 19th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey%27s_fist



Submitted February 10, 2015 at 08:01PM by stuball250 http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/2vf3tb/til_a_monkeys_fist_knot_is_used_as_the_weight_in/