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TIL the first known instance of a storm chaser or meteorologist killed by a tornado occurred in 2013 when Tim Samaras, his son Paul, & Carl Young were killed near El Reno, OK by the widest tornado ever recorded. It expanded from 1 mile to 2.6 miles wide in about 30 seconds as it closed in on them.

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x6rpg TIL that there wasn’t a North Star throughout much of antiquity, and after the year 2100, Polaris (the current North Star) will start moving away from the celestial north pole. There won’t be another North Star until around the year 4200.
wLjjM TIL that in 1965, a Quaker named Norman Morrison set himself on fire in the parking lot of the Pentagon to protest the Vietnam War. Robert McNamara watched him burn to death from his office.
w598 TIL that the American accent of the English language was actually the same as the British accent during colonization. Over time, the British accent kept changing while the American stayed almost unchanged.
8eKZb TIL that birth ratios seem to skew towards more females during famine. Mothers in good condition are more likely to give birth to sons, whereas mothers in poor condition are more likely to give birth to daughters.
yQdav TIL About John List, who killed his entire family in 1971. The murders were so precisely planned, it took a month for anyone to notice. He was caught in 1989, after a forensic artist created a lifelike bust of him, analysing Lists’ personality to get it right, and it was on America’s Most Wanted.