› added 6 years ago

226

TIL a small lake in Africa killed 1,700 villagers and 3,500 livestock overnight when it suddenly released 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide, suffocating everything within 16 miles. Scientists still don't know what triggered the event.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

9Y89p TIL: That after a plane crash that wiped out almost the entire Russian National Hockey team in 1950, Stalin's son feared his fathers reaction and recruited new team in one day and his father did not even notice
m1X7y TIL in 2013, Jeff Bush was asleep in his bedroom when a huge sinkhole opened up and swallowed him and his entire bedroom. Even though his brother heard his screams, he couldn't see or rescue him in time. They never found Bush's body...
BrXmd TIL about Silvestre Herrera, a Mexican citizen and volunteer US soldier during WWII who received the Medal of Honor. He charged an enemy stronghold through a minefield, blowing off both of his feet. He continued fighting on his knees, pinning down the enemy and allowing his squad to capture it.
5Ga9 TIL a Pan-Am flight crashed in the Syrian desert, killing fourteen passengers. Two crew survived - one of the two was the co-pilot, named Gene Roddenberry. He was so disturbed by the crash that he quit to become a writer, and shortly after he created Star Trek.
r1N0 TIL The organization (OCEARCH) that tagged 2 great white sharks off of Cape Cod in September has an interactive shark tracker on their website so you can see where Genie and Mary Lee are hanging out.