› added 3 months ago

16

TIL that Ernest, Jim Varney's Character, was originally dreamed up to star in advertising commercials for years before his first movie.

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78DDX TIL the Permian–Triassic extinction event that occurred approximately 251.9 million years ago is considered Earth's most severe known extinction event. 57% of biological families, 83% of genera, 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species became extinct.
XKa8 TIL Serena and Venus Williams were 16 and 18 years old when they challenged any man outside the top 200 best tennis players in the world to beat them, Karsten Braasch the 203 player accepted the challenge and defeated them with 6-1 and 6-2, they later changed it to beating anyone outside of top 350.
PY7jJ TIL that commercial radio was invented due to a bet. Frank Conrad, the inventor, wanted to settle a $5 bet about the accuracy of his $12 watch. He ended up building a radio receiver with the original purpose to hear the time signals transmitted by the U.S. Naval Observatory.
GYE7j TIL in 2005 physicists at MIT created a new form of matter, a gas of atoms that shows high-temperature superfluidity.
AN0Xa TIL the Amygdala in the brain is responsible for processing fear and sexual desires. Its goal is to ensure survival. If for some reason fear is not enough to get through a dangerous situation, stimulation of sexual activity for the purpose of reproduction ensures the continuation of the species.