› added 9 years ago

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TIL - The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. If you scale this to 46 years then the human race has been here for just 4 hours. The Industrial Revolution began just 1 minute ago and in that time, 50% of the Earth’s forests have been destroyed.

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RmJj TIL that in the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, at least 300 people lost their lives because the doors opened inwards. This prompted the regulation that all doors in a public building must open outwards.
4D5g TIL the term “slush fund” comes from the age of sailing when salted meat was kept in barrels. After the barrel was finished, there was a slushy mix of fat and salt left over which was saved and then sold at port, the funds were then used to purchase a luxury for the crew.
YpEQW TIL that soviets had nuclear tractors, aka Project Gamma Kolos, in an attempt to mutate wheat seeds before sowing them
oVj7 TIL during the Cold War the RCMP developed and used a “fruit machine” which measured pupil dilation in relation to pics of men and women to determine whether someone was gay.
W7eJo TIL after the attack on Pearl Harbor, three sailors were trapped underwater for 16 days before succumbing.