› added 7 years ago

79

TIL in 1933 Stalin criminalized male homosexuality but left lesbianism untouched

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1QoD TIL By damming up rivers, beavers create natural wetlands that (1) encourage the growth of salmon, trout, frogs, and songbirds; (2) work like sponges during floods to reduce the amount of damage; and (3) create a barrier of passive resistance from violent predators like coyotes, wolves, and bears.
yVbLa TIL that Able Archer 83 was a war exercise conducted by NATO that panicked the Soviets into thinking they were really being attacked and so nearly launched a nuclear retaliation in response; it is now considered to be the nearest that mankind went into nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis
4Yrb TIL during a Space Shuttle launch abort in 1984, leaking hydrogen was causing a fire invisible to human eyes. If the astronauts had evacuated according to the emergency procedure, they would have been incinerated by it.
0QGv TIL Mall of America is owned by Canadians
AwXg TIL the fizzy sensation on your tongue from carbonated drinks is not caused by the tiny bubbles popping; the fizz is our actual taste of carbon dioxide.