› added 12 years ago

193

TIL there is a star that should not exist. Meet Caffau’s star, aka SDSS J102915+172927!

Read more time.com

via reddit.com

74Mb TIL: The Emperor of China who built the Great Wall suppressed intellectual thoughts and unified political opinion by burning books and burying scholars alive.
b9Pjp TIL a team at MIT developed a computer programme called ‘World One’ which predicted that in the year 2020 a series of catastrophic events will begin that will lead to the end of civilisation.
x6Jx1 TIL that when trying to select a new name for the Canadian Northwest Territories the name Bob came in second place in the top choices
neGLY TIL that the 1974 hit song "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas was initially recorded as a nonsense b side to another song "I Want To Give You My Everything"until the label stepped in and made it the A Side
j66YE TIL that there are around 50-60 blue faience hippopotamus statuettes that survived from Ancient Egypt. Due to the danger hippos posed in the wild, they often snapped off the legs of hippopotamus statuettes before placing them in tombs, so the hippos wouldn’t be able to eat the soul of the deceased.