› added 7 months ago

362

TIL that during the building of the Panama Canal, the United States led one of the largest and most challenging engineering projects ever undertaken, overcoming extreme climate and health challenges to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Read more history.com

via reddit.com

69Lo7 TIL there is a species of jumping spider in Africa which specializes in feeding on blood-filled female mosquitoes.
xVEAg TIL That the personal belongings of Marie Curie, the mother of modern physics, are dangerously radioactive to this day. They are kept in a lead box and those who wish to consult them must wear protective clothing.
R7mpl TIL that not only did Brittany Murphy not die of drug OD/intoxication, but her widower husband died just 5 months later in the same manner: acute pneumonia and extreme anemia. To this day no one is sure what exactly caused their deaths.
b9Pjp TIL a team at MIT developed a computer programme called ‘World One’ which predicted that in the year 2020 a series of catastrophic events will begin that will lead to the end of civilisation.
D1EQp TIL Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson, wrote a teacher who was showing the movies in class: "No. Stop. Please. No class deserves such a punishment". On another occasion he wrote: "I would rather have my teeth pulled with no anesthesia".