› added 9 years ago

62

TIL that Apollo 11, 14 and 15 missions have left mirrors on the surface of the Moon to calculate the distance between the Earth and the Moon by aiming a laser at them. Scientists have confirmed that the Moon is spiraling away from Earth at a rate of 3.8 cm per year.

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mxN4M TIL while living on islands without many predators, humans and other animals become significantly smaller within 2000-3000 years in a process called "Island Dwarfism," while small animals like rats become bigger.
x67B1 TIL: That the inventor of the Airplane and the Inventor of Cheez-Its lived across the street from each other. We were touring Orville Wright's home and learned that their neighbor across the street was Weston Green, who invented Cheez-Its.
69MOw TIL there is a 14 story children's courthouse in Miami
16nNP TIL that there is a dialect of Welsh spoken exclusively in Southern Argentina.
8y8b TIL that ancient Greek mathematician Hero of Alexandria invented the first vending machine which dispensed holy water after you put in a coin. He also invented the first steam engine and the first wind powered machine, 2000 years before the industrial revolution.