› added 1 year ago

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TIL India has "marriage brokers" to match up familiries. The industry is worth more than 250 billion rupees, ~= 3 billion USD

mxyay TIL the word "America" is a latinized version of Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer who voyaged to the "new world" and published two popular booklets in Europe about the new continent. This inspired cartographer Martin Waldseemüller to label the new land after him on his maps, creating the trend.
OGBaL TIL that the Haber-Bosch process (involving formation of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen) that has led to a population boom over the past century, is also responsible for deaths of millions in the WWII. Additionally, almost 50% of the nitrogen found in human tissues originated from this process.
b6jPN TIL Grand Theft Auto IV's fictional radio station 'WKTT' included spoken rants submitted by real fans as part of a 2007 contest by Rockstar Games. Fans could call a real number for the station and have their rants recorded for a chance to have their voice included in the game.
EjP0 TIL there is an $11,000 royalty fee a climber must pay to the Nepal government to climb Mount Everest. They earn around $3.25 million every season.
ewOJ TIL that a Singaporean pilot, Tsu Whey Ming, committed murder/suicide by intentionally crashing the 737-300 he was piloting, killing all 104 people on board, and that the Indonesian authorities covered up the report prompting the U.S. NTSB, in an unprecedented move, to publicly contradict them