› added 12 years ago

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TIL that Aerogel, also known as frozen smoke, is the world’s lowest density solid, clocking in anywhere from 95-99% air. If you hold a piece in your hand, it is almost impossible to feel or see, but if you poke it, it is like styrofoam. Also, it can support up to 4,000 times its own weight.

Read more aerogel.org

via reddit.com

xV59D TIL that Samuel McCulloch, a freed slave, was the first Texian soldier to be wounded during the Texas Revolution, in 1835. A law later prohibited freed slaves from residing in the Republic of Texas, but specifically excluded McCulloch, his family, and his descendants in recognition of his service.
j7ER TIL in 1904 A Swedish sailor shipwrecked on an island in Papua New Guinea inhabited by cannibalistic tribals. He was carried to their king, who’s daughter fell in love with him. He married the king’s daughter and after his death, became king of the Island.
dDVY8 TIL that the Catcholic Church still excommunicates people, with the last excommunication being in 2020, when Jeremy Leatherby, a priest in Sacramento, refused to recognize the legitimacy of Pope Francis.
p8WRN TIL: Breakfast being “the most important meal of the day” originated in a 1944 marketing campaign launched by General Foods, the manufacturer of Grape Nuts, to sell more cereal. During the campaign, grocery stores and radio ads promoted the importance of breakfast.
Bg7YW TIL that if you drilled a hole through the center of the earth from Formosa Province in Argentina, you’d end up on the island of Formosa. This was not known when the two places were named in the 1500s.