› added 8 years ago

349

TIL Rainbows appear as full circles when viewed from the air. They only appear as arches from the the ground because there’s no rain below the viewer.

Read more slate.com

via reddit.com

OGMBe TIL that arabs had banned the export of unroasted coffee beans so that everyone would have to continue buying it from them but an Indian saint Budan smuggled 7 seeds in his beard risking capital punishment thereby starting the coffee production in India and ending arabian monopoly on it.
d8kod TIL After losing a drunken bet with his bandmates, Sabaton singer Joakim Broden had to walk to the band's next gig. Broden walked from Falun, Sweden to Trondheim, Norway, over ~700km, staying at fans' houses and accepting food/beer donations along the way to complete the journey.
OPjL TIL When the government wanted to cut Public Television funds in 1969, the relatively unknown Mister Rogers went to Washington. While the budget should have been cut, the funding instead jumped from $9 to $22 million.
ANXXd TIL in 2013, astronaut Chris Hadfield took a picture of Berlin at night from the International Space Station which showed the division between the former east and west through its streetlights. East Berlin looks orange due to sodium vapor lamps while West Berlin looks white due to fluorescent lamps.
nedYr TIL that manatees rely on their farting abilities to keep them afloat. When they have gas stored up, they’re more buoyant and float to the surface. When they fart out that gas, they sink. When constipated and can’t pass gas, they can't swim properly and float around with their tail above their head.