› added 9 years ago

108

TIL that suicide is a more common cause of death than murder.

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aB89 TIL the “Solar storm of 1859” was so powerful that telegraphs continued to operate after being disconnected, auroras were seen in the tropics, and miners in the Rockies thought the sun had risen early.
OA1X TIL that in 1987, someone hacked into a primetime episode of Dr Who dressed as Max Headroom. He was never caught
l76y5 TIL That the winds of an average hurricane packs around 1.5 trillion watts of power. That's enough to power half of the world for about 1 year.
AJVo TIL that when basking sharks decay their carcasses take on the appearance of plesiosaurs (ancient aquatic reptiles) including a long neck and tiny head. There have been numerous “plesiosaur” discoveries which turned out to be decayed sharks.
ADnmx TIL: Prince Edward, youngest son of Elizabeth II, was made Earl of Wessex on his wedding in 1999. He wanted that title, which hadn't existed for centuries, because he liked Colin Firth's character Lord Wessex in "Shakespeare in Love"