› added 4 years ago

329

TIL the Great Sphinx of Giza is so old, that when the first archeologic expedition came to restore it, it had to actually excavate it first, as it was covered up to its ears in sand and dust. Oh and no - that expedition didn’t take place in the 19th century. It took place 3400 years ago.

Read more history.com

via reddit.com

pYY4p TIL that during The Depression, FDR started construction on tidal dams in Passamaquoddy and Cobscook bays, on Maine’s border with New Brunswick, to generate electricity using the gigantic tides from the Bay of Fundy called the Quoddy Tidal Power Project.
yQ878 TIL Dexter Holland, lead singer of The Offspring, has a PhD in molecular biology and is a licensed pilot who has completed a solo flight around the world.
7na7 TIL there is a branch in psychology whose purpose is to use scientific understanding and effective interventions to aid to satisfactory normal life rather than merely treating mental illness. It’s called positive psychology.
gMkg9 TIL the Antikythera Shipwreck of the First Century BCE, discovered by Greek sponge divers, yielded artifacts including art, jewelry, a statue of Herakles, coins, but most importantly the Antikythera Mechanism, interlocking gears that computed the movements of the sun, the moon, and eclipse dates
OoBG7 TIL of Henry Darger, he worked as a janitor to a hospital and after his death people discovered by coincidence two long illustrated fantasy novels and another book. He wrote more than 30,000 pages without telling anyone.