› added 9 years ago

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TIL if the history of the universe was condensed into a year, the Milky Way would form on May 15, life on earth would appear on September 21, and the dinosaurs would go extinct on December 30. Modern humans would evolve on December 31 at 11:52 PM and Columbus would discover America at 11:59:58 PM.

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GAR75 TIL Galileo was convicted of heresy partially due to a misunderstanding. In his book he gave the character arguing against Heliocentrism the name "Simplicio" after a famous philosopher. In Italian this could also be construed as "simpleton" though and the church/Pope took it as him insulting them.
dl09 TIL that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was still operational and producing power up until 2000, a full 14 after the infamous reactor 4 meltdown
wLl8W TIL the creator of the Child’s Play franchise has pitched a crossover with Freddy Krueger titled Child’s Play on Elm St. The foundations have been laid in Bride of Chucky where Freddy’s bladed glove features in a scene.
6Ej6Y TIL liposuction (a surgical procedure done to remove excess fat deposits from specific areas of the body) can cause thrombophlebitis (a condition that makes veins to be inflamed when a blood clot forms).
8elLa TIL that before Lincoln Center could reward David Geffen's $100 Million donation by renaming "Avery Fisher Hall" to "David Geffen Hall", they had to pay the heirs of Fisher - the original donor - $15 million. Geffen's donation has a provision that requires his name to be on the hall "in perpetuity".