› added 7 years ago

960

TIL there's a hidden room behind Lincoln's head on Mount Rushmore

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via reddit.com

8a4bP TIL that more than 30 Roman emperors (out of ~86) were erased from monuments by decree of the Senate, as a way to erase the names of disgraced individuals from public memory
NXxXN TIL that McMurdo Station, the largest research community in Antarctica, is on an actively volcanic island
kpO5 TIL that, in 200 BCE, Eratosthenes measured the Earth’s circumference to an accuracy of 98.4% by measuring the angle of the sun in two different cities
4Rdb TIL that Greek statues have small penises because large ones were considered “grotesque”
jNM9X TIL Handshakes were originally meant to make sure that the person you were meeting wasn’t carrying a concealed weapon. The hand clasp proved that your hand was empty and shaking was meant to dislodge any weapons hiding up the sleeve.