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1097

TIL that it's very problematic to make an accurate and/or precise measurement of something as seemingly mundane as coastlines, due to the Coastline Paradox. Although the actual measurement cannot be theoretically infinite, coastlines are practically immeasurable in terms of standardized consistency.

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Dv1p TIL that Christopher Columbus was never painted. Therefore, every image that we have of him is a fake and only an assumption of what we think he looked like.
5aXB TIL of a theory that says society has 4 stages of approx 20 yrs: High (strong institutions; low individualism), Awakening (strong activism & art), Unraveling (distrusted institutions; strong individualism), and Crisis (destroy institutions for national survival). We’re in the Crisis stage.
7rrlP TIL that the Marquis de Sade, from which we derive the term "sadism," actually played a part in inciting the French revolution: While a prisoner in the Bastille, he screamed from the window of his cell that prisoners were being murdered there. Ten days later, the Bastille was stormed.
ANk4n TIL The original version of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde, which included more explicit references to homosexuality, wasn't published until 2011.
X9Ok TIL: There was a time millions of years ago when trees would die but not decompose. Forests would become massive areas of dead wood. These would catch fire and created staggeringly large fires. Much of the coal we consume today formed as a result of this period.