› added 9 years ago

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TIL in 1054 a supernova in the Constellation Taurus was observed that was bright enough to remain visible during daylight for perhaps as long as 23 days. The remnant of the supernova, which consists of debris ejected during the explosion, is now known as the Crab Nebula.

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ArKo TIL babies learn a language by hearing it, but they must hear it spoken directly to them in person by another human being; as little as 12 hours with a human tutor produces dramatic results in babies, compared to no results even after many more hours of exposure to foreign language TV shows.
X0rLX TIL that the earliest settlers of Madagascar arrived in outrigger canoes from Borneo, about 4800 miles away. Estimates range from 350 BCE - 550 CE, making Madagascar one of the latest major landmasses to be settled by humans.
gMnOX TIL despite Portuguese neutrality in WWII British ships were allowed to refuel in Portugal because of a treaty signed over 600 years ago - the Treaty of Windsor, which is the longest lasting alliance treaty in the world. The treaty has been invoked several times to save Portugal from invasion.
kOee5 TIL that during a particularly cold spell in the town of Snag (Yukon) where the temp reached -83f (-63.9c) you could clearly hear people speaking 4 miles away along with other phenomenon such as peoples breath turning to powder and falling straight to the ground & river ice booming like gunshots.
e08pJ TIL that the Ho Chi Minh trail was not simply a few footpaths but a network of tracks wide enough to drive trucks along, and multiple oil pipelines that by the end of the war had supplied 270,000 tonnes of petroleum to troops in southern Vietnam