› added 9 years ago

498

TIL the Han Dynasty in China was aware of the existence of the Roman Empire, calling them Daqin or “great Qin”. In 97 CE the Chinese attempted to send an envoy but he turned back after reaching a large “western sea”, discouraged by the long and perilous journey it would take to reach Rome itself.

e8yE TIL that if humans ever colonize Venus, they might do so with floating cities. Because the breathable oxygen/nitrogen mixture found on Earth is lighter on Venus, it acts the same as Helium does on Earth; it not only “floats,” but can sustain weight.
AD0Zd TIL approximately 230 children were born around 1980-1999 by collecting sperm from ‘genius donors’ (like Nobel prize winners) in a eugenetic attempt to breed entire generations of geniuses.
m1peO TIL that on May 26, 2022, the last convicted Salem witch was officially exonerated, 329 years after she had been found guilty, after pressure from schoolchildren who discovered the anomaly which had excluded Elizabeth Johnson Jr's name from the Massachusetts legislature act exonerating all others.
LQ7aP TIL that Amazing Facts is not just a phrase, it is actually a non-profit Seventh-day Adventist ministry started in 1965, which grew from a small radio program into TV shows, online courses, and Bible study programs
Ap4l TIL In the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, 11 athletes were sent home after cheating their way into favorable classes. At the Sydney games in 2000, the Spanish mentally handicapped basketball team won the gold medal. It later turned out that 10 players were completely healthy