› added 10 years ago

204

TIL a 18C. astronomer went to India to see a Transit of Venus. Delayed, he missed it, but decided to stay for the next one, in 8 years. The second try was clouded out. 3 years later he returned to France to find he’d been declared dead, his wife had remarried, and his estate was gone

Read more messier.seds.org

via reddit.com

0wQo5 Today I learned: I used to think it's only me who is skinny but has belly fat, but I found that belly fat can accumulate on anyone. It has nothing to do with your size, form, age, or sex. always struggling to get rid of it ughhh
0dJ7L TIL Between 1945 and 1965, the number of people under British rule outside the UK itself fell from 700 million to five million.
rp01 TIL that both Mama Cass (from the Mamas & the Papas) and Keith Moon (from The Who) died in the same apartment owned by singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson.
x658k TIL when Marlon Brando planned to get circumcized in the 1990s, he believed that his ability to meditate had given him a high pain tolerance and thus wanted the procedure to be conducted without using painkillers or anaesthesia. He was unhappy when he later found out that anesthesia is required.
NvrN TIL In 1959, Volvo invented the 3-point seat belt, then gave free license to all other car manufacturers to use it. [x-post from r/Autos]