› added 7 years ago

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TIL the town of Rjukan, Norway receives no natural sunlight from September to March due to the steep mountains that surround it. They've installed 3 large mirrors to reflect light into the town's square. The mirrors track the sun's path and move every 10 secs to create a 600m squared pool of light.

Read more visitrjukan.com

via reddit.com

E1Yjp TIL Dr. Seuss' first wife committed suicide after finding out he was cheating on her while she had cancer
xYkg TIL that, in 2007, Princes William and Harry asked Channel 4 not to broadcast a documentary featuring footage of their mother’s dying moments. Channel 4 broadcast the documentary anyway, then put out an additional programme an hour later to debate whether it had been right for them to do so.
rRj60 TIL Switzerland has 7 simultaneous "presidents", each with equal power. Every year they rotate control of 7 federal depts & who acts as "head of state" (e.g. when dealing with other countries). They come from various parties — right now it's 2 conservatives, 2 liberals, 2 socialists, and a centrist
R5ndj TIL: Trees, signs, buildings near the Jack Daniel distillery look blowtorched because of the “angels share” of ethanol from the whiskey barrels (2% of the maturing whiskey that evaporates from the barrels) feeds a melanin-containing fungus called Baudoinia compniacensis (aka whiskey fungus)
Z89NG TIL Madonna leaked a fake version of her album to pirates where every song was a loop of her saying "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" In response, a hacker posted the real album on her own site for everyone to download with the message: "This is what the fuck I think I'm doing."