› added 10 years ago

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TIL that scholars have only translated or read 30,000 of the 2 million known cuneiform tablets.

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XEBlR TIL That every 13 -17 years, billions of Cicadas emerge from the ground to mate. Once the Cicadas have transformed and predators leave the swarms alone, the males lay eggs. After a few days, they all die and disappear for another 13 - 17 years.
LklVv TIL that William Shatner directed 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier' because of a clause in his contract dating back to the original series ensuring that whatever Leonard Nimoy got—he did too. So after Nimoy directed 'Star Trek IV', Shatner insisted that he get a turn at directing a movie.
X0vPX TIL of Miracle Village, a small town in Florida that has a population of around 200 people and over half are registered sex offenders.
9Ym46 TIL John Von Neumann was considered the smartest man alive by his fellow physicists. Enrico Fermi once told his Ph.D student: "You know how much faster I am in thinking than you are? That's how much faster von Neumann is compared to me."
6E1aZ TIL About the overview effect: It is the experience of seeing firsthand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, "hanging in the void"