› added 5 years ago

336

TIL that the Northern Royal Albatross take their first flight after about 8 months of age, and then spend the next 3-5 years at sea, never touching land during that time. Many then return to their headland where they born so they can then breed, having flown over 190,000km per year during that time.

Read more albatross.org.nz

via reddit.com

LkdWQ TIL about "naumachia", the Ancient Roman practice of filling a specialised coliseum/amphitheatre basin full of water and forcing convicts and PoWs to fight to the death in staged naval battles, complete with fully armed warships, for the Caesar's entertainment
Z8gYp TIL:1885 the King of Belgium established a fake charity & got international agreement to let it have control of an India-sized chunk of Africa. For years he fooled the world that he was helping Africans, while he was really enslaving people & made roughly $1 billion. At least two million people died
Oo566 TIL that medieval dentists knew how to fill cavities, treat facial fractures, could spot oral cancer, and even knew the basics of whitening teeth. Evidence also suggests they knew how to create dentures out of cow bone and human teeth.
D1kPV TIL about the Bermuda Triangle of the Pacific, the century-old Dragon's Triangle (or the Devil's Sea). It is located near Japan and known for similar "paranormal" properties and unexplained instances of disappearing ships.
QJYDe TIL that there are certain companies (Eternal Reefs) that turns dead bodies into an Ocean Leaf. They mix the cremated remains of a person to create a pearl which is then encased in reef baals and dropped to sea where it provides a new habitat for fish and sea life and encourages vibrant ecosystem.