› added 4 years ago

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TIL that when Mt. Everest was found to be the tallest mountain on Earth at 29000ft (the estimate at the time), an extra 2 feet were added on top of the number because they feared if it was too round of a number, the public would think they had picked an arbitrary number.

Read more everestsummitexpedition.com

via reddit.com

wo6Y6 TIL that the first recorded separation of conjoined twins took place in the Byzantine Empire in the 900s. One of the twins was already dead, and the other lived for three days after separation. The next recorded separation is several centuries later, in 1689, by Johannes Fatio.
JYjwj TIL you are more likely to be hit by lightning than become a billionaire
gZDD TIL More veterans died of suicide than combat after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan
yQ5DM TIL after Richard I was shot with a crossbow, before he died he summoned the boy, who assumed he’d be executed. Instead, he forgave the boy and sent him away with 100 shillings. After Richard died, the boy was hanged.
49mb TIL - The National Forest Service tested whether or not bears were attracted to menstruating women by measuring wild bears’ responses to either tampons or to four menstruating women. “Menstrual odors were essentially ignored by [all] black bears.”