› added 5 years ago

210

TIL that a black cemetery in Florida disappeared 100 years ago. The local newspaper started looking for it and through old documents learned that maybe a public housing complex had been built over it. An archaeologist used ground-penetrating radar to see what was in the ground. He found 120 coffins.

Read more tampabay.com

via reddit.com

5YnQk TIL the goat is the Navy mascot partly because sailors used to leave goats on remote islands to propagate and become a source of food for passing ships - a practice which caused long-standing environmental issues due to the introduction of an invasive species.
rRMr0 TIL Severus Alexander, a generally meek emperor who ascended the throne at the age of 14, used to entertain himself by watching puppies play with little piglets
1lw8 TIL that some birds “whiffle”; by flying upside down they invert their aerodynamics, and quickly lose height. It helps them dodge predators.
5VmxQ TIL the United States runs a program with lasers and lunar reflectors that measure the distance to the moon, started in 1970 - with an accuracy better than 3 centimeters since the 1990s.
1jDP TIL In 1997 Morgan Freeman offered to cover the cost of prom for a Mississippi school that held two racially segregated proms every year, provided that the one Freeman would be covering would just be one racially integrated prom. This offer was refused until 2008.