› added 12 years ago

94

TIL on October 20, 1944, an above-ground natural gas storage tank began to leak. The gas eventually made its way into the sewers of Cleveland and ignited, blowing manhole covers miles away and shooting flames up through the plumbing of homes. 130 people were killed.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

N7YNE TIL Iranian men have gained an average of 16.5 cm in height, and South Korean women 20.2 cm, becoming the people that have grown the fastest in the last century
JV1Q TIL cigarette filters are printed to look like cork.
9AmG TIL that up until 1933 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons were released into the air at the conclusion of the parade and would stay airborne above the city for as long as a week. A return address was stitched in and people who returned them received $100 reward.
9glM TIL that Luke Magnotta, a 30-year-old former porn actor, murdered, dismembered, and cannibalized a Chinese exchange student, posted a video of it online, then mailed the body parts to various Canadian political parties.
nGwP TIL that the reflex that causes people to sneeze when looking at the sun is called Autosomal-dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst Syndrome, which abbreviates to ACHOO.