› added 9 months ago

46

TIL that in 2009 the US launched a satellite so secret that no government agency admits to owning it. Even the name, "Palladium at Night", is mysterious.

Read more thespacereview.com

via reddit.com

W7G6d TIL in 1991 a warehouse in Wisconsin holding over 4,000 tonnes of butter caught on fire. After five hours the melted butter flooded and formed a "butter river" that was 2-3 feet deep and as much as 5 feet deep in some places. The fire lasted for 8 days.
yGav TIL Chattanooga, Tennessee has broadband internet that is 200 times faster than the national average in the US.
bGKN TIL a Russian mathematician solved a 100 year old math problem. He declined the Fields medal, $1 million in awards, and later retired from math because he hated the recognition the math community gives to people who prove things
1QOr TIL Sergeant Stubby is the only dog promoted to sergeant through combat. He served in 17 battles, warned his regiment of gas attacks and incoming artillery, located wounded soldiers, and held a German soldier by his pants until other American soldiers found him
VB6B8 TIL the word "thagomizer", the spikey part of a stegosaur's tail was not named by paleontologists. It came from a Far Side comic quote: "named for the late Thag Simmons" - and then paleontologists actually started calling it that.