› added 11 years ago

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TIL in 1998 someone pulled an April Fools claiming Alabama had redefined pi to 3.0 to bring it in line with biblical values. Politicians got calls complaining

XxGr TIL that prior to 2013, the first in line for the United Kingdom throne was the oldest son, even if he had an older sister. Now the heir is the eldest child, regardless of their gender.
OoGOX The sky appears blue for a combination of two reasons. Before white light reaches the Earth's surface, the light waves collide with and bounce off of the nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the atmosphere. Different frequencies of light (in other words different colours) are scattered differently. Higher frequencies (blue and purple) are more easily scattered and thus bounce around in all different directions more than lower frequencies (red or orange) do. The scattering of high frequencies alone would cause the sky to appear blue and purple, but our eyes work better at frequencies near the middle of the spectrum (yellow and green). Since the colour blue is closer to yellow or green than purple is, the sky we see appears blue.
dDj9Q Today I Learned that George Washington’s first 100 days as president were consequential, popular, and effective. Notably, he willingly established limits to the power of the executive branch.
epv0b TIL During double-amputee athelete Oscar Pistorius's trial in South Africa for the shooting of his girlfriend, he was found not guilty of murder but guilty of culpable homicide (like manslaughter). However, the prosecution was able to appeal his murder acquittal into a guilty verdict of murder.
7VEM TIL a village in Peru settles their grudges by fistfighting on christmas day, then go drinking and start the new year off on a clean slate.