› added 11 years ago

139

TIL that the Queen of Denmark illustrated the artwork for the Danish edition of The Lord of the Rings

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aLLA TIL the metabolic rate of a dormant scorpion can be lower than that of a root vegetable like a carrot or beet.
WZYX TIL that at midnight on Dec 30th, 1899, a ship positioned itself at the intersection of the date line and equator, such that the bow and stern occupied different seasons, hemispheres, days, years, and centuries. For the ship, Dec 31st never occurred.
9YkBD TIL that volcanoes generate ~200 million tons of CO2 emissions annually while human activities generate ~24 billion tons of CO2 emissions.
R5xd6 TIL of Timothy Dexter - a barely literate American businessman, who was desperate for public office, and became wealthy through a series of improbable investments.
RkNw TIL there is a theoretical transatlantic tunnel that would allow for a 54 minute trip between New York and London.