› added 6 years ago

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TIL that NO books, music, films or other copyrighted materials have entered the public domain in the US for 20+ years. That changes January 1st, 2019 -- all works 1st published in the US in 1923 will enter the public domain. It's been 21 years since the last mass expiration of copyright in the U.S.

e0v8b TIL about comparative mythology. Anthropologist reconstruct ancient religions based on trends in their cultural descendents. Zeus and Jupiter (and many others) likely evolved from the Indo-European "*Dyḗws Ph₂tḗr" ("sky father")
j6ZKM TIL of Pigeon Guided Missiles where pigeons would follow an image, pecking at it, which would move the screen on its pivots. The sensors would detect the movement and send signals to the control surfaces, which would steer the bomb in the direction the screen had moved.
R7or1 TIL Manny Pacquiao became World Boxing Champion in 1998. Over 20 years later he is still World Boxing Champion with his latest victory being over an undefeated Keith Thurman who was 10 years younger.
e0a6k TIL that counting on fingers is a vital part of learning math, and children that do it from an early age develop much better math skills than those who have been told not to
6E00l TIL the Sovient Union developed a nuclear weapon so power that not even they were willing to test it at full capacity. The Tsar Bomba was the largest nuclear bomb ever tested in the earth's atmosphere, having a mushroom cloud spanning over 40 miles (64km) and a yield of 57 million tons of TNT.