› added 4 years ago

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TIL that the ruby-throated hummingbird can cross 800 km (500 mi) of the Gulf of Mexico on a nonstop flight.

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awk4A TIL that Jeopardy was canceled twice before the current incarnation of the show. It ran for 11 years before it was canceled & the reboot only lasted 3 months. Alex Trebek was a producer who made the show "his own" leading to it's current & longtime success.
QWLa TIL There is a sect of Jewish Monks in Ethiopia who proclaim to be the keepers of the Ark of the Covenant. Once inducted into the sect these priest are never allowed to venture outside of the temple.
DQ4pg TIL the band Grateful Dead got its name in 1965 after Jerry Garcia found the term in the Britannica World Language Dictionary along with the definition "the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial".
VM15p TIL Homer Simpson and many other characters in the works of Matt Groening have the middle initial J as an homage to Rocky and Bullwinkle creator Jay Ward, who gave many of his own characters the same middle initial.
78E97 TIL that air conditioning was originally invented not for comfort, but to control humidity in a printing company to prevent issues with paper and ink.