› added 8 years ago

116

TIL that 40% of the total number of slaves brought to the Americas went to Brazil, six or seven times that of the United States.

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LkP4r TIL Groundwater wells in old times were dug by pick and shovel until the digger couldn't bail anymore
78Vop TIL that the oldest door in Rome, the Pantheon Gate, is over 2000 years old and weighs over a tone. Despite this, it is very well balanced and can actually be opened by one person.
v1KAj TIL a Chilean flamingo escaped an aviary and lived the next 18 years in the wild by the Great Salt Lake. It was nicknamed Pink Floyd, and socialized with local gulls and swans.
xV68w TIL that thermostats sense the temperature with a strip of two different metals fastened together. Because the metals expand at different rates, it causes the strip to curve, breaking or completing the circuit at different temperatures.
M7AvW TIL Star-Planetary Systems are named after the name of their Star, our star's name is Sol. That's why our system is called the Solar System. Our nearest neighbouring star is Proxima Centauri and its system is called the Proxima Centauri System. "Solar System" is not a generic/categorical name.