› added 9 years ago

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TIL Nigerian scammers once sold a fake airport to a major international bank for $242 million, and the scam wasn’t discovered till 3 years later.

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awV4N TIL a "magnitude 10 [earthquake] or larger cannot happen." Why? "The magnitude of an earthquake is related to the length of the fault on which it occurs. . . . No fault long enough to generate a magnitude 10 earthquake is known to exist, and if it did, it would extend around most of the planet."
yQOrp TIL that the term "Lesbian" stems from the Ancient Greek poet Sappho of Lesbos who lived from 620-570 BCE. Her poetry portrays homoerotic feelings and she wrote over 10,000 lines of poetry. However, even though her works were widely known only 650 lines survive today.
YbOP TIL that in 2013, after more than 20 years of soda being America’s number one beverage, water has taken over as Americans’ favorite drink.
9eXr TIL that President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
DQxpv TIL: Ping-pong balls are made with celluloid, which is a byproduct of the paper-making process. Celluloid is used in ping-pong balls because it is easily molded and shaped, while allowing for the high-bounce property of the balls.