› added 6 months ago

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TIL the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) currently under construction in Chile will have 15 times more light collecting surface than the largest optical telescope currently in use

Read more elt.eso.org

via reddit.com

GYVG TIL that 49.5% of all Americans (151,700,000) did not pay income taxes in 2009.
0PLy TIL influential newspaper editor William Thomas Stead wrote a story in 1892 about a ship sinking in the Atlantic at great loss of life due to not enough lifeboats. Stead died in the Titanic sinking in 1912.
ADo9n TIL that Texas at one point was very very similar to other Deep Southern states, however by 1936, Texas elites took a step to redefine Texas and it’s culture with a very prominent Wild West theme to distance themselves from the Confederacy slowly but surely.
XEBoE TIL that seat belts were very controversial when they first appeared in cars during the 40s and 50s with many arguing that they caused injuries and didn't work, no matter how much researchers disputed these claims. Many people refused to wear them and even cut them out of their car seats.
eJQ6 TIL The film version of George Orwell’s book Animal Farm was secretly funded by the CIA.