› added 4 years ago

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TIL the longest papal election took 3 years (1268-1271), saw three electors die and one resign, and led to the creation of papal conclave rules which were designed to speed up elections.

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k7LW TIL Eastern Russia has a “Valley of Death” where volanic hydrogen sulfide gasses displace all oxygen for a metre or so above ground level. This kills animals which attracts scavengers who are also killed in an endless chain of death.
VBEyB TIL: the US State Department officially recommends that if you travel to Somalia, you first "Draft a will and designate appropriate insurance beneficiaries", "Be sure to appoint one family member to serve as the point of contact with hostage-takers", "review the Live Piracy Report", etc.
yVGRp TIL: Project Orion was a project by DARPA and NASA to use nukes to propel spacecraft supported by Von Braun , the biggest design was the "Super" Orion which hoods 1080 nukes, weigh 8 million tons, and was described as an interstellar ark. However, problems included nuclear fallout on Earth.
w9BE TIL: Disney and Star Wars coins have been minted by Niue and are legal tender in the country.
VMKLp TIL of "firehawks", birds in Australia that use burning sticks to hunt for food.