› added 5 years ago

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TIL that in 3000 BC the North Star was not Polaris, but a star called Thuban, because the axis of the earth was pointed in a different direction back then. This is because of the precession of equinoxes speeding and slowing down of the earth's spin through imperceptible intervals.

Read more starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov

via reddit.com

P1mvO TIL a Catholic monk once wrote an angry letter to the cardinals during a 2 year papal election. Upon receiving it, they immediately chose to elect him; he tried fleeing his election but accepted under pressure. One of his only acts was to decree that popes could resign, and he did so 1 week later.
nd8b TIL there are 12,000 properties designated “severe repetitive loss” properties for which “the flood insurance program has paid the owners for four significant flood claims, two within one decade”, helping to contribute to “about $24 billion in debt and taxpayers are left to pay the claims”
vvEx TIL because they had banned nuclear power, New Zealand refused to let US warships dock in their waters. This led to a ban on NZ ships at U.S. defense and coast guard bases around the world, and being considered “a friend, but not an ally” for 26 years.
xV047 TIL that in the Fuggerei, the oldest social housing complex in the world (located in the German city of Augsburg), the rent hasn't changed for over 500 years, and still stands at one Rhenish guilder (0.88 euros) per year, as well as three daily Catholic prayers for the current owners
GYARG TIL The Notorious B.I.G. wrote the song What’s Beef with lyrics, “my ngga Gutter fckin kidnap kids,” and “fck em in the ss throw em over the bridge.”