› added 5 years ago

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TIL that Mercury is the closest planet to Earth and to every other planet in the solar system most of the time.

Read more physicstoday.scitation.org

via reddit.com

kJ9RE TIL in the late-1990s the old five and dime department store chain F. W. Woolworth shifted focus to its high-performing specialty shoes division, and in 2001 changed its name to Foot Locker.
rRGy0 TIL The Japanese military used plague-infected fleas and flies, covered in cholera, to infect the population of China. They were spread using low-flying planes and with bombs containing mixtures of insects and disease. 440,000 people died as a result.
gMK7y TIL there are over 7000 spoken languages in the world.
R5ora TIL that when the Americans liberated Kiska Island from the Japanese during WWII Admiral King told the Secretary of the Navy that Japanese dogs could brew coffee
WrvX TIL a Catholic Priest in Brazil tried to raise money for charity by taking to the sky strapped to a chair and 1,000 helium balloons, got to 20,000 feet and then realized he didn’t know how to use his GPS, went missing, and two months later was found dead 100km out to sea.