› added 7 years ago

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The final frontier smells a lot like a Nascar race—a bouquet of hot metal, diesel fumes and barbecue. The source? Dying stars, mostly.

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epeMg TIL a family in Georgia claimed to have passed down a song in an unknown language from the time of their enslavement; scientists identified the song as a genuine West African funeral song in the Mende language that had survived multiple transmissions from mother to daughter over multiple centuries
JVKl TIL: On Nixon’s Inauguration Day, LBJ pulled out a cigarette—his first since his heart attack. One of his daughters pulled it out of his mouth saying “Daddy, what are you doing? You’re going to kill yourself.” He replied, “I’ve now raised you girls. I’ve now been President. Now it’s my time!”.
nXvG TIL that there was a hobbyist photographer who took tens of thousands of pictures in the 50s, mostly in Chicago. She never showed them to anyone or even bothered to develop them and she remained unknown until her death. Now she is considered one of the most important street photographers ever.
5YvVD TIL that when Rob Lowe learned of his tv shows cancellation halfway through making the first season, he made sure the last half of the season was “as absurd as possible”, ending the show by revealing himself to be a serial killer and then committing a murder suicide.
4m7J TIL that London cabbies study for years to take an exam called “The Knowledge of London,” requiring memorization of over 25,000 streets and many more businesses and landmarks.