› added 8 years ago

88

TIL that 5-8% of the modern human genome came from ancient viruses.

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yQmJM TIL There are no actual photos of the Milky Way galaxy in its entirety from space. No manmade object has ventured out far enough to be able to take one. Every image so far has been artists' renditions based on data gathered from various telescopes over time.
ZJ0D TIL that Metallica is the first and only band to play live shows on all seven continents, including Antarctica.
BrD7D TIL in 1995 a policy known as “the Wall" was created. It discouraged info sharing between the CIA and FBI, playing a critical role in the inability to stop 9/11. It got so bad agents played a CD with Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" into the phone as they were told their access was denied.
xVPBB TIL that in 2012 a Red Bull heir killed a police officer in a hit an run with his Ferrari and got away with it.
loPXG TIL that stop signs have 8 sides because in 1923, it was suggested that the more dangerous an upcoming road was, the more sides a traffic sign should have. Circles (infinite number of sides) designated the riskiest hazards, octagons the second-most dangerous, and rectangles were informational.