Post * b6Xm0 — Curious Curator

› added 10 months ago

35

TIL that the pulp hero Zorro is not Central/South American as many assume, but actually a white European Spaniard. The 1998 film "The Mask of Zorro" saw the original Zorro, played by Anthony Hopkins, pass the torch to a new Mexican successor. They cast Antonio Banderas, a white European Spaniard.

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O7bL TIL The first “picture” of Halley’s comet can be seen on the Bayeux tapestry which was possibly completed in 1077

wLjjW TIL Until 2007, Russian astronauts were issued a sawed off shotgun and machete to fight off Siberian bears and other wildlife upon landing back on Earth. They are now issued a semi-automatic pistol.

xQjb TIL that Neanderthals’ voices were actually high-pitched and nasal, not deep and baritone like many assume.

GYZn7 TIL a researcher spent her career studying what differentiates successful from unsuccessful people. She found grit, which she defines as "passion and perseverance for long-term goals", to be the main determinant of success, at least as good as IQ or socio-economic status at predicting life outcomes.

j6AEn TIL a propulsion system travelling at light speed is possible with our current knowledge, but the amounts of energy required are too great for it to be feasible. A spacecraft with a 100m radius would need an amount of energy that is 100s of times Jupiter's mass just to maintain the speed of light.