› added 5 years ago

140

TIL nuclear tests carried out roughly every 3 weeks through the '50s at the proving grounds just 65 miles out of Vegas were celebrated & touted as a tourist attraction by city authorities. The mushroom clouds from detonations were visible from the city.

Read more io9.gizmodo.com

via reddit.com

YpxjP TIL that Quakes (as in Earthquakes) don't only happen on Earth. There are Moonquakes, Venusquakes and Starquakes, which happen on neutron stars. One such starquake happened on a star 50000 Light Years away and would have been a 32 on the Richter Scale.
MeZb7 TIL that despite looking spindly, the earliest Automobiles- like the Model T ford- were very rugged. This was because they were built in a time when paved roads were uncommon and thus the first automobiles were expected to traverse rough country roads and outright offroad conditions.
5AkP TIL infamous Australian criminal Mark “Chopper” Read once played Russian roulette in an interview. He took the first shot, survived, and then told the interviewer it was her turn. When she replied that she didn’t want to play, he said “bad luck”, aimed at her and pulled the trigger (she survived).
oWjA TIL a Rhode Island woman attempted to sue her husband for slander after he called her a whore in a crowded restaurant. After being presented evidence, the judge officially ruled that the husband’s statement was accurate. She then appealed to the Supreme Court, only to have that judge agree as well.
5VAjD TIL the song Hey You wasn't in Pink Floyd's The Wall movie because Alan Parker and Roger Waters decided it was simply too depressing and botched the film's pacing, so they had it removed.