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170

TIL that the sun’s core is so hot that a piece of it the size of a pinhead would give off enough heat to kill a person 100 miles away

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QJw8d TIL after MLK won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, Atlanta's business elite opposed an interracial celebration. Paul Austin, chair/CEO of CocaCola (1962–1981) & supporter of MLK summoned them & dared to move CocaCola's HQ out of Atlanta. Every ticket to the dinner was sold in 2 hours after the meeting
W7BXL TIL In 1973 a Swedish convict Jan-Erik Olsson took 4 ppl as hostages during a bank robbery in Stockholm. During the incident they built a strong emotional bond with him, that none of the hostages testified against him, instead they helped him. This psychological bond is called "Stockholm Syndrome"
69YGW TIL that in the 1980s, apples were likely to contain higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Monoculture cropping, heavy pesticide/fertilizer use, and erosion led to soil degradation + nutrient depletion, which in turn has led to the apples of today not having the same nutrients.
neaQ7 TIL of the Haber–Bosch process developed in the 20th century - the process produces 450 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer per year now & has allowed to global population to grow from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 7 billion today
EgRo7 TIL The 1936 Xi'an Incident where Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist government of China, was arrested by two of his generals demanding he ally with the Communists to fight the Japanese. It would kickstart the first negotiations into the Chinese United Front.