› added 7 years ago

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TIL the distinct smell after it rains is called petrichor and it is caused by bacteria called actinomycetes.

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m1nLR TIL 1816 was the "Year Without a Summer," due to very low temperatures. People believed the Sun was about to extinguish as large Sunspots were visible on it's surface, spreading doomsday panic. In actuality, the cause was due to Mt Tambora, the largest volcanic eruption in human history.
GYOdQ TIL Spiders Eat Up to 800 Million Tons of Prey Each Year, nearly twice the amount by weight of meat humans consume each year.
OoWr4 TIL In recognition discovering Uranus, King George III gave Herschel an annual stipend of £200 on condition that he move to Windsor so that the Royal Family could look through his telescopes (equivalent to £24,000 in 2019).
6EbVm TIL that Avengers: Endgame, the current highest-grossing film of all time with $2.8bn, is actually leapfrogged by four films when adjusted for inflation; Gone with the Wind (1939 $3.7bn), Avatar (2009 $3.3bn), Titanic (1997 $3.1bn) and Star Wars (1977 $3.0bn)
R7e16 TIL that of the 120 U.S. deaths attributed to 2005's Hurricane Rita, about 100 of them were Texans who died in the evacuation