› added 6 months ago

216

TIL that Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela has the highest frequency of lightning storms on Earth, with such storms occurring on almost half of all calendar days each year.

Read more metoffice.gov.uk

via reddit.com

7gyZ TIL the tallest free-standing tower in the world, the Tokyo Sky Tree, had its final height chosen solely because of wordplay; several numbers were considered because of their alternate meanings, they ended up choosing 634m for “Musashi”
9Ar TIL the record holder for most survived lightning strikes, at 7, was struck while operating a truck, inside a ranger station, on two separate occasions after running/driving away from the storm, and immediately after the seventh strike he had to fight off a trout-stealing bear with a tree branch.
jNkXp TIL about Thought-Terminating Clichés - a type of logical fallacy that employs the loaded language of a well known phrase or saying that offers seemingly simple solutions to complex questions for the sole purpose of shutting down further debate by diminishing critical thinking.
KYj54 TIL Nicolas Cage is the nephew of filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and his real name is Nicolas Kim Coppola. To avoid accusations of nepotism, Nicolas chose the last name “Cage” due to being a fan of both the Marvel superhero Luke Cage and composer John Cage.
8apEZ Today I learned there is a no-kill animal shelter in Costa Rica called "Territorio de Zaguates", or "Land of Strays". It sits on 378 acres and is home to approximately 1,000 dogs. There, visitors are able to go on scenic hikes with the dogs, even if they have no plans to adopt.