› added 12 years ago

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TIL: Someone wrote his Name 1,000 meters high, and two miles wide into the sand and it’s visible from space

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via reddit.com

4k8Lg TIL a grey parrot Alex was studied for decades & found to have object permanence, understood zero, estimated numbers, knew colors & shapes, assessed object differences, was the only non-human to ask questions, had the intelligence of a 5yo & at death said "You be good, I love you. See you tomorrow."
ne4r TIL when a king dies in Tonga, the royal undertakers are not allowed to use their hands for 100 days afterwards. They are hand-fed in captivity, which is a step up from the older practice of having their hands chopped off.
p8aa4 TIL that, despite being built in 280 BC, the Colossus of Rhodes was approximately as tall as the Statue of Liberty.
6EZeW TIL Ivory Coast's Murielle Ahoure couldn’t find an Ivory Coast flag so she celebrated her 60m gold with Irish flag given to her by a spectator
BrEVD TIL that the Soviet Union sent an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in an attempt to bring back lunar soil. It was in lunar orbit as Armstrong and Aldrin performed their famous spacewalk. It crashed on the lunar surface hours before the Apollo astronauts lifted off for their return to Earth.