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TIL of Robert Landsberg, a photographer who died documenting the massive 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens. Realizing he was too close to get away safely, he continued to shoot footage until he was killed. His body was found buried beneath ash, protecting his camera film.

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9Gdp TIL snow is actually considered a mineral, along with naturally occurring ice. Water, however, is not a mineral.
gM6OW TIL The all-time heat record of 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Death Valley on July 10, 1913 is highly contested, being described as "essentially not possible" given the conditions at the time by some meteorologists and especially questionable as it was recorded by an untrained and eccentric observer.
Pwew TIL that halfway between the U.S. and Australia, there is a concrete sarcophagus called the Runit Dome. Essentially an American version of the Chernobyl sarcophagus, constructed to deal with lingering radioactivity within the Enewetak Atoll, site of 111,000 cubic yards of irradiated debris.
0ddwR TIL that The ancient Egyptian port city Heracleion was said to have collapsed into the sea. Everyone thought it was a myth until 1933, when a British air force pilot spotted the undersea ruins. But it would take until 1999 for archaeologists to precisely locate the city and start exploring.
dDm98 Today I learned that ants can theoretically survive a fall from practically any height since an ant falling through the air only has a terminal velocity of about 4 mph.