› added 8 years ago

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TIL that due to the inclusion of a leap day and two leap seconds, 1972 is the longest year in history.

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mxQ5Y TIL President Ulysses S Grant's birth name was "Hirum Ulysses", but when a family friend mistakenly submitted his name to West Point as "US Grant" he became Ulysses S Grant. West Point would not allow any correction to his application.
AWDd TIL the US military modified a C130 with rockets so it could land in and take off from a football stadium, in Iran, to rescue hostages.
N0Pb TIL that the latest Dragonball Z movie (Battle of Gods) was 1 of the 4 selected movies in 2012 that received funding from the Japanese government
9wYb6 TIL Smoke following people around a fire is due to hot air rising from the fire and drawing cold air towards it. A person would block cold air from flowing in that particular location, causing the hot air, along with the smoke, to seemingly follow the person.
W71JN TIL while there are popular theories, no one really knows why earthworms come out of the ground when it rains. Originally thought that they rise because they can drown, this has been debunked as earthworms can survive in water for over 2 weeks. The #1 theory now is that they ascend to mate and feed.