› added 7 years ago

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TIL about the Year Without a Summer. In 1816, a combination of volcanic eruptions led to snow in June, the creation of the bicycle, and the writing of Frankenstein.

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via reddit.com

wLeY6 TIL helium is called helium because -ium is for metals, helios is the sun god. They thought helium was a metal from the sun.
LQOGm TIL that the original version of ‘Oh My Darling Clementine’ written in 1884 had some seriously dark lyrics. The third to last verse reads, “In a churchyard near the canon where the myrtle doth entwine Grow the roses in their posies fertilized by Clementine.” Fourth to last is also quite dark.
MewVb TIL about the idea of the Good Country Index: to measure what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away, relative to its size. Using a wide range of data from the U.N. and other international organizations. This has been active since 2014
J1BKv TIL that Disneyland Paris almost failed because they did not serve wine
gM16X TIL that the sub USS Archerfish was credited with only one sinking during WW2, the Japanese supercarrier Shinano. This remains the largest ship ever sunk by a sub, and measured by tonnage the most successful US patrol of the war.