› added 3 years ago

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TIL that in 2017 an Ecuadorian adventurer ran a half marathon 2.5 miles underground. At that depth the air is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% humidity, air pressure 1.4 times normal. He passed out after 15 minutes during his first training session in similar conditions on the surface.

ADp7g TIL that the first Olympics had an event called Pankration, a mix of wrestling and boxing where the only restrictions were of biting/gouging. Breaking digits and dislocating limbs was common, the battle only ending in death/surrender. The Greeks invented sports medicine in response to this event.
8aKO4 TIL of The Essex, an American ship which was attacked by a sperm whale in 1820. The 20-man crew set out in the surviving life boats for several months, resorting to drawing lots to decide who would be sacrificed and consumed. 8 men survived. The story was the inspiration for the novel 'Moby Dick'.
xVPeb TIL in the US radio-controlled clocks precisely coordinate time shifts with the official atomic clock at the Physical Measurement Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. The atomic clock keeps time for the entire country and will neither gain or lose a second over the course of 100 million years.
0wE4p TIL Devonte Hart, the African American child famously shown hugging a police officer during the Ferguson Riots, was killed when his adoptive parents purposely drove off a 100 foot cliff.
rply TIL Konami had a sense of humor dealing with Nintendo piracy. If Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III senses it isn’t an authentic copy the game silently reduces the damage the player deals out, doubles the damage they take, and makes Shredder immortal.