› added 5 years ago

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TIL the red grapefruit comes from a 1950s gov nuclear program called "Atoms for Peace" where they would mutate crops with radioactive material. In these "Gamma Gardens" ones grown close to the radioactive source died, but ones farther away turned red

j6y6j TIL Thomas Midgley Jr. had the most adverse impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth's history due to his invention of leaded gasoline and chlorofluorocarbons (two of the world's most harmful chemical compounds)
9YVrM TIL about Winston County, Alabama, which during the American Civil War attempted to cede from the Confederacy and become a free republic, as the lack of any plantations and resulting rarity of slaveholders in the region gave the locals little reason to sympathize with the rebel cause
LkYYp TIL that these tall mesh nets of 30 square meters are harvesting clouds - coulds that once were a cause of illness for the residents of Mt. Boutmezguida in Morocco's anti atlas mountains, today, are the solution for desertification of the area thanks to these mesh nets.
loBeV TIL that according to the Monsters Inc DVD commentary track, the sushi restaurant was originally blown up by the CDA. After the events of September 11, Pixar changed the scene to show the restaurant covered in a plasma dome. They managed to pull this off in time for the November 2 release date.
rb5d TIL that Victoria’s Secret founder sold it for just $4m. (It’s now worth more than $5bn.) He then tried to start a children’s retail store, and went bankrupt. He jumped to his death from the Golden Gate Bridge at age 46 .