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TIL In the 12th century Chinese Polymath Shen Kuo correctly theorized that rainbows are caused by the refraction of sunlight through water droplets

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epl9b TIL the Yellow River's infamous floods aren't the river simply overflowing its banks and returning to its original course. When uncontrolled, the river changes course frequently and wildly; some episodes see the river's mouth shift as far as 480 km.
OGLW6 TIL Komodo dragons can have so-called virgin births. As well as mating with males the species is parthenogenetic: in other words, the females can lay fertile eggs without any input from males. This will only reproduce identical young, however. For the species to continue to adapt, it needs to mate.
pnbp TIL that in 1937, a natural gas leak at the local school in New London, Texas caused a massive explosion that killed upward of 295 students and teachers, the deadliest school disaster in US history. Adolf Hitler even sent his condolences by telegram.
M4x0 TIL the average house in the US is almost 3 times bigger than the average house in the UK
e0el6 TIL that the scientific definition of a berry includes grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, bananas, chili peppers, persimmons, watermelons, and pumpkins.