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TIL Lake Laogai in Avatar: The Last Airbender was based on "Laogai", a prison system in China that attempted to reform people with labor

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BZLr TIL that newgrounds.com is one of the oldest websites still around. It was founded in 1991.
Y85d TIL in 1954 the USSR proposed a dam to the U.S. that would close off the Bering Straight. The Soviets claimed it would block arctic cold currents that flow down over Korea and the Sea of Japan, warming it as much as 30 degrees. The U.S. declined.
XE1b8 TIL that marrie Currie notebook is so radioactive it has to be stored in a lead box, and visitors have to sign a waiver before they can see it.
N7jEQ TIL snails use only 2 brain cells to make "complex decisions". One cell tells the snail if it's hungry, the other tells the snail if food is around
M7MX8 TIL that since Earth's creation the planet has been hit with 1/21,000,000th its mass in sunlight