› added 5 years ago

95

TIL that the two most distinctive features of the 'Death Star' in Star Wars—its crater-shaped 'superlaser' and the 'trench' around its circumference—were actually the combined features of two of Saturn's moons, Iapetus and Mimas.

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via reddit.com

mxDyR TIL Queen Victoria had 8 Failed Assassination Attempts Made Against Her
AwOl TIL that in 2008 13 babies in China died after ingesting a formula made with melamine which the company added to make it look like it had a higher protein content. Two of the owners of the company involved were actually executed.
GYZa1 TIL Libyan leader Gaddafi spoke a dialect of Arabic that was hard for other Arabs to understand and often spoke for hours without notes by saying the first thing that came into his head. He once spoke at the London School of Oriental and African Studies by direct satellite and was 90% unintelligible
DVAr TIL: The monkey wrench was named using a purposeful misspelling of Moncky, the inventor’s last name.
JYjOV TIL that some black bears are born white and are called Spirit Bears. They are not albino or polar bears.