› added 5 years ago

168

TIL that all lakes in the state of Maryland are man-made

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yVdV TIL that in May of 2011, the Ku Klux Klan released statements attempting to distance themselves from the Westboro Babtist Church. Their leader said, “It’s the soldier that fought and died and gave them that right to free speech.”
Z8wM4 TIL about the Falkland Islands. These islands were covered by landmines in 1982 when Argentina invaded because they wanted to control them. Because of this certain areas of the islands became untouched leading to the penguin population to thrive because they aren't heavy enough to set the mines off.
6E7xW TIL of Wally Funk, who became an aviator at 20, and in 1961 volunteered to be part of the Women in Space program. She scored higher on tests than future astronaut John Glenn. The program was cancelled. Today, at 86, she continues to fly, and has a ticket to fly into space with Virgin Galactic.
0awv TIL the song Fly Me to the Moon was the first music ever heard on the Moon, when Buzz Aldrin played it on a cassette tape.
p8dop TIL of Maria Sibylla Merian, the naturalist who discovered the life cycle of butterflies and insects, painted them in breathtakingly accurate watercolors, and braved the jungles of Africa with her daughter to greatly advance the science of entomology.