› added 4 years ago

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TIL the Nile river valley used to be a deep canyon system, up to 1.8 km deep where Cairo is today (the same depth as the Grand Canyon). It filled with sentiment 5 million years ago when the Mediterranean Sea refilled after a period of drying out.

6EdKW TIL that in 1972 the equal rights amendment was passed in the U.S. Senate but was never ratified by the 38 required states and has been waiting for the required number for 46 years.
BaPr TIL the last man executed by electric chair in the U.S. was removed from the death penalty on appeal. Thinking this made him immune, he boasted of his crimes, supplying evidence which allowed him to be re-convicted and then executed.
Bppk TIL that the qualifications to become an astronaut are: A degree in engineering, biological sciences, physical sciences or mathematics, 3 years field experience OR 1000 hrs as a jet pilot OR a doctorate, 20/20 correctible vision, good blood pressure, and a height of 62 to 75 inches.
4kM4w TIL Maya Rudolph’s husband Paul Thomas Anderson is the son of Ernest Anderson. He was a late-night horror host know for his portrayal of Ghoulardi, the host of a Shock Theater program in Cleveland Ohio from 1963 through 1966.
epkM4 TIL that the arbitrary decision decades ago about the heights of high hurdles and distance between the hurdles created a small band of heights of males that could actually compete at a high level in the event. The women's hurdles are shorter relative to their height, and don't have the same effect.