› added 11 years ago

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TIL the “Solar storm of 1859” was so powerful that telegraphs continued to operate after being disconnected, auroras were seen in the tropics, and miners in the Rockies thought the sun had risen early.

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W71E9 TIL about the worst shark attack in recorded history. The U.S.S. Indianapolis sank leaving 900 floating in the water with only 317 surviving. The estimated killed directly by sharks ranges between 36-150 sailors.
lGW7 TIL that when local pagans were angered by a giant figure of Homer Simpson that was painted next to the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, UK as a publicity stunt for The Simpsons Movie, producer Al Jean remarked “this is the last religion we can possibly upset. Now we’ve got all of ‘em”.
LMxV TIL in 2006, the Indy Car Series switched over to Honda engines and since then, there have been no Indy Car engine failures.
kJkx5 TIL steamed hamburgers are an actual regional delicacy (though in Central Connecticut).
NXAyJ TIL Leonardo da Vinci did detailed experiments to understand the nature of gravity long before Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton.