› added 3 years ago

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TIL that, ideally, you need to use your fake Christmas tree for 20 years to make it outweigh the minimal environmental damage done by chopping down a real tree every year. Production and disposal of plastic and steel trees is worse for the environment, and real trees are typically recycled.

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E1pld TIL that the name for Russia comes from the Finnish word "Rus" which means Swede (as in "a person from Sweden"). Russians originate from Varangians (type of Vikings) originating from Sweden who later became slavicized.
7O1b TIL a chimpanzee that was socialized to humans since birth could log onto a computer to look at pictures, watch television using a remote control, brush his teeth, feed hay to his owner’s horses, water plants and learned the schedule of passing ice cream trucks.
woLY6 TIL A moon rock gifted to former Dutch Prime Minister by the U.S. ambassador and displayed at the Dutch national museum turned out to be a piece of petrified wood
v094 TIL that before filming LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson made the principal actors train for 6 weeks in sword fighting, riding and boating to allow the cast to bond. Later, most of the actors portraying the Fellowship got a tattoo with the Elvish symbol for the number 9.
GAykj TIL The sound of Fountains of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom” was inspired by Ric Ocasek’s band’s 1978 hit “Just What I Needed.” In the music video, Stacy’s mom’s car has “I heart Ric” on her license plate.