› added 5 years ago

158

TIL that the northern lights shows us why there is life on Earth.

Read more astrobiology.nasa.gov

via reddit.com

x6MQ1 TIL: To become King Louis XV's official mistress, Madame du Barry had a fake birth certificate made to hide her humble origin as the illegitimate daughter of a seamstress. The birth certificate claimed her family were nobility and that she was 3 years younger than her actual age.
WkGMY TIL the EU's largest national park is in South America
YppXP TIL Harvard's first black faculty member was a dentist. Dr. George Franklin Grant joined the Dept of mechanical dentistry in 1871. Also an inventor, he patented the wooden golf tee. Previously, golfers carried around buckets of sand, placing their balls on little piles as they went.
Og11 TIL after finding out his wife was having an affair, the future King George I of England beat and choked her, divorced her, and then had her imprisoned for the rest of her life. And had her lover murdered.
E18OX TIL Schools of Clownfish have a hierarchy with a female at the top. When the top female dies, the most dominant male changes sex (from male to female and takes her place.