› added 10 years ago

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TIL NASA mapped the Earth at night and discovered that half of an uninhabited part of Australia is on fire - producing even more light than the capital cities.

Read more earthobservatory.nasa.gov

via reddit.com

XENr8 TIL legendary comedian Norm Macdonald had a severe gambling addiction that resulted in him losing all of his money on three separate occasions (largest was 400K at one time). It started with a 6 figure win in a night at a craps table in Atlantic City and grew to 20 online Texas hold'em hands at once
oBxMo TIL that the opening scene of Zoolander (the awards ceremony) was actually filmed during the commercial breaks at the real-life 2000 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards.
7rRGr TIL Bill Gates founded a nonprofit ed-tech initiative that created peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks, which are available in free digital formats and for a low cost in print. Instructors are free to use, adapt, and remix the content of those textbooks.
eA6E TIL Christmas (December 25) is actually the FIRST “Day of Christmas”, and that the “Twelve Days of Christmas” actually lead up to the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6). Most of this tradition has been forgotten in Western Christianity.
XDyE TIL The Blanket Octopus rips off the Portuguese Man O’ War’s tentacles and uses them for defensive purposes