› added 6 months ago

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TIL that Archimedes supposedly invented a giant lens that focused the power of the sun to burn enemy Greek ships

Read more bbc.co.uk

via reddit.com

yVWmw TIL that three of Jonas Savimbi's children sued Activision for the portrayal of their father in the popular game Black Ops II, citing that he was presented as a "big halfwit who wanted to kill everybody", but the lawsuit was rejected.
kJvLm TIL that in all 6 elections of the Greater London Council (1965-1986), the leading national opposition party won, with the party in government coming second
0dZbv TIL Shrek 2 was the highest-grossing movie released between 1997 and 2008 in North America, outperforming every Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, and Pirates of the Caribbean movie to come out during that period
R7ax4 TIL the canonical reason for most of the alien races to be humanoid in Star Trek is an ancient humanoid species seeding the oceans of many worlds with DNA codes 4.5 billion years before the start of the series, directing the evolution of life towards a physical pattern similar to their own.
M71Ob TIL that the earth's mantle is predominantly solid due to extreme pressure, though it behaves as a "viscous fluid" on geologic time scales.