› added 10 years ago

115

TIL You Could Fit All the Planets in the Solar System Between the Earth and the Moon.

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Me5N0 TIL that Naspers, a South African company that "formed an integral part of the power structure which implemented and maintained apartheid", today has a 31% stake in Tencent, making it Tencent's largest shareholder
Y7BAB TIL Queen Elizabeth I required 600 horse carts to carry everything she needed for her summer excursions to the countryside. She’d stay with the local Nobles, but if their castle was too small, the nobility would get kicked out to make room. Of course you wouldn’t turn her down, or expect payment.
0wXyy TIL that Frank Sinatra tried to commit suicide 3 times while dating Ava Gardner. Once resulting in her struggling to remove a gun from his head. A bullet was fired but missed the both of them.
J1BkQ TIL The first bridge to span the Mississippi River was built in 1855 near Minneapolis. The Father Louis Hennepin Suspension Bridge charged a toll. Price for pigs and sheep was 2 cents, humans paid 3 cents, horses cost 15 cents and carriages cost 25 cents.
4XX5o TIL that Shenzhen, China went from sleepy fishing village (pop 30K) to a global city of over 10 million that produces 90% of world's electronics. With some of the tallest skyscrapers on earth. All in a mere 35 years.