› added 12 years ago

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TIL that after becoming associated with the catchphrase “billions and billions,” Carl Sagan had a unit of measurement named after him. One sagan is equal to at least four billion, since the smallest number that may be described as “billions and billions” must be two billion plus two billion.

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Jppm TIL that Dysthanasia is the opposite of Euthanasia and means “bad death”. It often occurs in modern medicine when a terminally ill person is kept alive beyond their natural period, thus prolonging their suffering.
XpR TIl that the bikini was so named during operation Crossroads, the first nuclear tests at the Bikini atols. “Like the bomb, the bikini is small and devastating.”
xMg1 TIL that US government placed beer near a nuclear explosion in 1956 to see if it would still be drinkable after a nuclear fallout, and it was.
jNrMX TIL Liechtenstein gives away free beer to anyone who shows up on their national holiday, Staatsfeiertag.
xW7g TIL that a recent educational experiment suggested that reading “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” increased children’s likelihood of lying. On the other hand, reading a book on George Washington and the cherry tree decreased this likelihood dramatically.