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TIL that The Volcanic Eruption of Krakatoa Indonesia On 27th August 1883 with an explosion the equivalent power of 150 million tonnes of TNT. The eruption was so loud that the sound was heard over a twelfth of the Earth’s surface, the shockwaves reverberated around the entire planet, seven times.

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R784 TIL That Vermont was its own republic from 1777 to 1791. It applied to join the US and was denied, then tried to join Quebec and failed. They were finally accepted as the 14th State in 1791.
7rJ0b TIL until December '98, songs could not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 unless they were released as a single. This resulted in many well-known 90s songs (e.g. No Doubt's Don't Speak, Sugar Ray's Fly) being absent from the chart's history. Under current rules, they would have likely hit #1.
A1Wl TIL hat Bill Nye “The Science Guy” got his start in show business in Seattle doing sketch comedy. His other character beside Science Guy was a Speedwalking Seattle Superhero.
BrMPy TIL That the first Christmas party held at the US Embassy in the USSR featured three performing seals, who came into the room balancing a Christmas tree, a tray of glasses, and a bottle of champagne. Afterward, the seal's trainer (quite drunk), passed out, and the seals galloped freely in the house.
XpWr TIL: In 1991, a crowd of hundreds of people tried to play a single game Pong on a big screen, and quickly learned to do it successfully (Loren Carpenter experiment)