› added 6 years ago

94

TIL the Gulf Stream has such an effect on temperatures in Western Europe, that it puts them in a completely different climate to other places at the same latitude around the world. Parts of Canada that have polar bears are on the same latitude as Scotland.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

j6r0X TIL when St. Peter’s Basilica was remodeled in the 1600’s, the tombs of nearly a thousand years of Catholic Popes were destroyed.
7r7Wb TIL a 1997 study found that the action of drinking is more thirst quenching than being rehydrated through a nasogastric tube. This is because the physical sensation of drinking tells the brain that you are rehydrating.
epOk4 TIL when Al Smith won South Carolina with 91.39% in 1928, it was the worst result for a winner of South Carolina in a presidential election after 1896 and prior to 1944.
Rew8 TIL that in 1976, during the height of the Cold War, Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko defected to the West - taking with him the highly secretive MiG-25 fighter plane.
w5eW TIL that the first Russian Tsar was known as “Ivan the Awesome,” but due to a mistaken translation is known as “Ivan the Terrible”