› added 4 years ago

53

TIL due to the speed of its orbit and rotation, Mercury's days are longer than its years.

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781Xp TIL that recruitment to the British Army's Gurkha unit is extremely competitive, accepting only 230 recruits out of 28,000 applicants. All recruitment happens in Nepalese villages, and candidates must participate in a two-mile race up a steep hill, carrying 35kg of rocks in a basket.
08av TIL the first American spy satellites literally dropped their film from space in a “film bucket” that was then scooped up in midair by a plane
XE9GE TIL that aspects of your personality are determined by how your brain works.. e.g. if the frontal part of your brain is more dominant on the left side you are probably the kind of person that approaches a problem, if your right side is dominant you avoid the cause of the problem
Br5ne TIL Alberta has no rats due to serious rat control policies, including a $5000 fine for having a rat. In 2004 someone released 38 rats in Calgary but by the time the rat control officers arrived the local residents had already formed an armed posse and hunted them down with brooms, 2x4s, and shovels
m1r7M TIL While in school, Rod Sterling tested experimental parachutes for the Army. He even earned $1,000 testing a new ejection seat that had previously claimed three lives!