› added 6 years ago

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TIL that the GPS service used globally is paid for by the U.S. Department of Defense, and costs upwards of a billion dollars annually.

Read more gps.gov

via reddit.com

KYg0G TIL that there's a species of wasp called the horse guard wasp. It is found in the eastern US and acts as a natural biological control by hanging around horses and killing horse flies. Despite their loud buzzing noises, horses are not disturbed by them.
4XKvN TIL that in the 1930s, dust storms were so severe that the static electricity generated would arc from your body to the nearest metal object and knock you head-over-heels. Two men shaking hands could literally knock each other out.
Orb7 TIL that the ancient Greeks used the term barbarian for anyone who didn’t speed Greek, including ancient Egyptians, as another language sounded like ‘bar bar bar’ to the Greeks which lead to the term 'barbarian’
d8vmE TIL Ed O'Neill has a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu.
E4pw TIL during AOL’s prime, the CEO called broadband a “side issue” and said “narrowband is going to be around forever”.