› added 8 years ago

74

TIL that Al-Beruni, a mathematical genius, calculated radius of earth 1 thousand years ago (alone). There’s a mere difference of 16 km between his value and modern day value.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

EgkJx TIL the boy whose exorcism inspired "The Exorcist" later became a NASA engineer, where his contributions significantly supported the Apollo missions during the 1960s.
Me0GK TIL that in 1212 some twelve year old named Stephen de Cloyes thought it would be a fucking brilliant idea to retake the Holy Land with an army of children. They trusted complete strangers to sail them to Jerusalem. They all either got sold as slaves or ended up at the bottom of the Mediterranean.
gpVD TIL that despite supporting one of the highest human population densities, Japan is the first developed country with the highest percentage (74%) of forest-covered land. Japan’s forest management policy began over four centuries ago.
aynM TIL that in 1984 and 1985 New York City’s buses, subways and commuter railroads all stopped charging, from 8PM to 8AM, in an effort to discourage drunken driving.
5DR8 TIL the US suppressed a 1995 WHO study which proved that occasional cocaine use causes no physical or social problems. We only know it thanks to a 2009 Wikileak.