› added 3 years ago

143

TIL Babylonians were using a rudimentary form of calculus to calculate Jupiter’s displacement each day along the ecliptic, the path that the sun appears to trace through the stars. Historians had thought such techniques did not emerge until more than 1400 years later, in 14th century Europe.

xGB7 TIL that “it is practically impossible to write French correctly using a keyboard that has been bought in France”, says the country’s government. Because the AZERTY layout makes typing certain accented letters difficult (especially capitals), many don’t use them, changing the language.
AyZg TIL The Beatles approached Stanley Kubrick to direct a LOTR movie starring themselves. Tolkien killed the project as a result of his hate for The Beatles. A hate developed after moving 3 doors down from The Beatles in 1964, who irked him with the “indescribable” noise from their practice sessions.
P1a9O TIL The volcano Mauna Loa makes up 51% of the landmass of Hawai'i (the Big Island)
N7yEM TIL despite the huge size of whales, their pupils are only about 50% larger than those of humans. However, this still means they can hypothetically see stars about one magnitude fainter than we can, revealing 2.5 times more stars. Giant deep-sea squids have pupils some 10 times wider than whales.
KeZE TIL that penny dreadfuls, pulp novels from the 1800s, were once blamed for the criminal behavior of young men in the same way that video games are blamed today.