Post * e0rdb — Curious Curator

› added 4 years ago

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TIL In 1958 nuclear weapons were proposed as a tool for petroleum extraction. The plan was to detonate 100 nuclear bombs in the Alberta Oil Sands, thus adding heat and decreasing viscosity, the bitumen could then be easily pumped out. The project was put on hiatus due to risk of Soviet espionage.

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Z8YXR TIL There was a British general who, thirteen years apart, personally surrendered to George Washington (Yorktown) and Napoleon Bonaparte (Toulon)

9w5LM TIL of the Gunnbjörn's skerries. A group of small islands roughly halfway between Greenland and Iceland, they were colonized by Norse settlers, with a successful colony of 18 farms by 1391. By 1456, they reportedly "completely burned up" and disappeared, presumably destroyed in a volcanic event.

jNlXj TIL Kate Winslet Keeps Her Oscar in the Bathroom so that her guests can play around and make speeches in the mirror

JYx7v TIL that the charity Citymeals on wheels was founded by mid 1900s American food icons, Gael Greene and James Beard. They started by spending $35,000 to provide 6,000 needy elders with Christmas dinners and the project's success inspired them. As of 2016 Citymeals had an annual budget of $20 million.

694PJ TIL in the Netherlands there is a small community of four people living in the middle of the Afsluitdijk, the large causeway/dam that separates the North Sea from Lake Ijssel.