› added 12 years ago

373

TIL - In 526 AD there was a world-wide dust cloud that blocked out the sun for a FULL YEAR, resulting in widespread famine and disease. >80% of Scandinavia and parts of China starved to death, 30% of Europe died in epidemics, and empires fell. No one knows the cause.

Read more archaeology.about.com

via reddit.com

yb4M TIL despite not turning a profit, Reddit plans to donate 10% of its ad revenue to non-profit organizations this year.
5Ydlr TIL that there is a term for people who chronically have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning called DYSANIA.
4X5wX TIL the Adoration Of The Magi is an unfinished work by Leonardo da Vinci commissioned by a Florentine monastery in 1480. Consistent with his proneness to abandon projects, he eventually grew bored with it, simply left, and moved to Milan. The monastery paid Filippino Lippi to complete it instead.
9YjXD TIL the Space Shuttle had a glide ratio of 4.5:1, which is only slightly better than a helicopter with an engine failure (4:1).
neX4Y TIL when a Massachusetts mall let a Qdoba open there, another tenant -- Panera -- sued. Panera had the exclusive right to sell sandwiches and argued that Qdoba's burritos violated that right. The judge disagreed and ruled that a burrito is not a sandwich.