› added 9 months ago

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TIL That the worlds oldest, still in use, fire station is located in Stockholm, Sweden

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xkww TIL there is a species of spider named Calponia harrisonfordi and a species of ant named Pheidole harrisonfordi in honor of the actor’s work as a conservationist and environmentalist.
yQJAa TIL During WW2, because Ireland remained neutral during the conflict, many Irish soldiers deserted and joined Britain's military to fight the Nazis. Ireland deprived these soldiers of pension, unemployment benefits, and public sector jobs (for 7 years) as punishment.
1amjr TIL: The Apollo Guidance computer was programmed in metric, but showed imperial values in the displays. Using metric meant fewer calculations thus optimizing the use of the limited processing power and the astronauts were used to imperial so that's what they saw on the display.
ADrPl TIL of Alice Blunden, a woman who was so knocked out after having ingesting a large amount of poppy tea that a doctor pronounced her dead. She was quickly buried, but exhumed when people could hear her voice from the grave. She was so close to death, she was once again accidentally buried alive.
oRJVr TIL the church in Rome began formally celebrating Christmas on December 25 in 336, during the reign of the emperor Constantine. However, Christmas did not become a major Christian festival until the 9th century