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TIL the SAT was adapted to fit an American “Common Core” education. Logic-based word problems for math were replaced with clear equations, arcane vocabulary was replaced with common words from the workplace, multiple choices were simplified from 5 choices to 4, and the essay portion is now optional.

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D15xD TIL that Jakarta is sinking 25cm (10in) per year, in part due to excessive use of groundwater and lack of piped water. It is expected that the city will be completed submerged in next 30 years.
XEgbk TIL that fossils of sea creatures called Ammonites are considered holy symbols in the folk Hindu beliefs of India and Nepal. They and other marine fossils are found in the Himalayas, which were raised from the now-drained Tethys Sea. Climbers to Mt Everest have brought back fossils of Sea Lilies.
rNnYe TIL Anti-Video Game Activist Jack Thompson wrote a letter to Wendy’s CEO in 2007, demanding to halt the Kids’ Meal promotion of the Nintendo Wii, because Nintendo announced the launch of Manhunt 2 for the Wii, as it would promote violence to America’s youth.
v8rD TIL Carl Johnson was the Director of the Jefferson County, CDPHE. He reported that soil around the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant contained 44 times more plutonium than the government claimed. In 1977 he reported higher-than-average rates of cancer among the local people. In 1981 he was fired.
R7Ol8 TIL Nardwuar-- a Canadian interviewer and musician-- hid in Kurt Cobain's dressing room, tried to pass as the president of Nirvana's record label, and ultimately secured one of Cobain's last interviews pretending to be Courtney Love's cousin