› added 8 years ago

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TIL Scientists have compared China’s toxic air pollution to a nuclear winter

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via ift.tt

XWyQ TIL Tom Carvel began selling ice cream out of his truck in 1929. One day he had a flat tire, so he pulled over and began selling his melting ice cream to vacationers driving by. They enjoyed the softer version more than the fully frozen dessert, and the Carvel soft-serve business was born.
0wOrM TIL that the White House placed buckets of wet sand around during WW1 as an early fire extinguisher
9wxQp TIL that Jumbo the Elephant from PT Barnum's circus died while trying to save a midget from being run over by a train. Also, he wasn't called "Jumbo" because he was big but the other way around: big things are called "jumbo" because of him.
yL0V TIL Ian McDiarmid was only 38 years old when he played the Emperor in Return of the Jedi
6JeJ TIL that, to stop the theft of trees in public parks near Christmas time, some cities spray would-be Christmas trees with fox urine. It freezes and is odorless outdoors, but would be unbearable and irremovable if taken into someone’s home.