› added 4 years ago

99

TIL That in order to build the Itaipu Dam on the border of Paraguay and Brazil, one of the largest waterfalls by volume, the Guaíra Falls, were redirected to form the artificial lake for the dam. 18 waterfalls in 7 groups with a volume of 1.75 million cubic feet per second disappeared overnight.

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ZpMyQ TIL that the quasar 3C 273 is so incredibly bright that if it were 36 lightyears away it would appear brighter than the sun in our sky, and is 4 trillion times brighter than our star.
nW7L9 TIL An English composer, Jeremiah Clarke, couldn't decide if he should commit suicide by hanging or drowning himself. He flipped a coin and after the coin landed on its edge in the mud he went home and shot himself instead.
x6545 TIL Limp Bizkit's "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water" is the fastest-selling rock album ever in the United States. It broke the seven year record held by Pearl Jam for their album "Vs."
1l8V TIL mail order shops sold nose hair trimmers cheaply to build lists of people too embarrassed to buy them in person, and therefore very likely to buy more embarrassing things via the mail.
4Dr6 TIL Mexico is named after its capital Mexico City, not the other way around