› added 8 years ago

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TIL Kristian Birkeland invented the electromagnetic cannon and the Birkeland-Eyde process (to extract nitrogen from the air for fertilizer) all to fund his true passion, researching the northern lights.

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r19y TIL One of the best ultra runners in the world gained her ability after a seizure, warping her sense of time. She has no ability to gauge the amount of time she has left to run.
yQd1l TIL of Ada Roe, who was 3 years old when the American civil war began (1861) and lived long enough to see the moon landing (1969).
PWjJ TIL - At its MOST liberal estimate, the entire Jewish population of the world is smaller than the acceptable statistical error when approximating the population of China.
opBA TIL there is a mineral called “Cummingtonite” named after its place of discovery: Cummington, Massachusetts
bp6E TIL One of Michael Vick’s former fighting dogs, Leo, went on to be a therapy dog who comforted terminally ill children/adults.