› added 2 years ago

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TIL that the moon is 1/400th the size of the sun but also 1/400th the distance from Earth which results in the moon and the sun being the same size in the sky, a coincidence not shared by any other known planet-moon combination.

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via reddit.com

KYLYQ TIL that the infamous Whitest Kids U Know sketch "It's Illegal to Say..." was involved in a fairly high-profile Supreme Court case. The defendant posted an altered version of the controversial sketch's script with his wife's name being substituted in place of the President.
rkPd TIL there are only 13 active airships (blimps) in the world.
VMeVp TIL the silent P in the word "ptarmigan" has absolutely no reason to be there. The bird's name comes from the Gaelic "tàrmachan" ("croaker"), but in 1684 the Scottish naturalist Robert Sibbald decided to add a p in front to make the word look more Greek.
m1pMO TIL: Joachim Peiper, started in Hitler's Youth then became leader of the SS where he encouraged war crimes. After the war he remained a nazi, helped suppress war data, and worked at Porsche as a manager for years due to Ferry Porsch being his friend. He then taught car salesman at Volkswagen.
dDkgQ TIL one of the most common mutations is Polydactyly, where a person is born with one or more extra fingers, affecting 1 out of every 1000 newborns.