› added 3 years ago

140

TIL that two dim stars from the Big Dipper served as an ancient eye test. If you had lived in the time of the early Romans and could see them, you would have been eligible to be an archer in the Roman army.

Z8wM4 TIL about the Falkland Islands. These islands were covered by landmines in 1982 when Argentina invaded because they wanted to control them. Because of this certain areas of the islands became untouched leading to the penguin population to thrive because they aren't heavy enough to set the mines off.
78lEr TIL Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart went on a spacewalk and was told to stay there and don't move when a movie camera jammed. In those five minutes, he saw the Earth and experienced a moment filled with existential questions
XEoJP TIL Charles S. Dutton went from "jail to Yale." While in solitary he picked up an anthology of black playwrights. He convinced the warden to start a drama group, later earning a Master's degree in acting from Yale. He has starred in films by David Fincher, Robert Altman, and Guillermo del Toro.
ANXno TIL 20th US president, James Garfield, didn't want to be a candidate. When he got his first votes, he challenged it by saying without his consent, he should not be receiving votes, but he was dismissed. After winning the nomination, Garfield looked "pale as death". He was assassinated a year later
Z85YQ TIL that it's actually illegal for companies like FedEx to ship "non-urgent" letters unless the customer pays at least six times the value of USPS postage.