› added 5 years ago

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TIL that although the Chernobyl nuclear-power-plant had a meltdown in 1986 and had rendered the land around it uninhabitable, the remaining reactors of the facility remained in normal operation and generated power until the year 2000.

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via reddit.com

Eg5Zw TIL that in 2004, 1/3 of the men in the Pitcairn Islands were accused of assault. Their defense rested on the fact that British sovereignty of the islands was illegitimate, as the colonists were descended from Royal Navy mutineers. A new Court had to be created specifically to have jurisdiction.
BryKD TIL we had Dogcarts in the Netherlands and Belgium until 1911, because they were smaller and cheaper than horses and perfect for narrow streets.
4kRXo TIL Melbourne's Federation Square is built on 4,000 springs to prevent the train lines running underneath from vibrating the artworks in the galleries above.
W7v0L TIL that the longest word in the English dictionary is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, and it is a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust.
5YbpP TIL that the 'Illuminati' conspiracy was dreamt up in Playboy in the 1960s as an experiment to disprove conspiracy thinking. It backfired.