› added 3 weeks ago

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TIL Nuclear "Dawn Bomb Parties" were a thing in Vegas during the 50’s due to the close proximity to nuclear test sites

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v1pPR TIL that the main character in Tomb Raider was originally intended to be a man until the developers began to worry that the character would be seen as derivative of Indiana Jones, so the character's gender was changed and Lara Croft was born.
a81PL TIL skydiving instructor Devrey LaRiccia & her student Kayla Black both died during a tandem jump after they encountered 2 dust devils (rapid rotating whirlwinds) at about 40 feet. LaRiccia managed to avoid one, but got caught in the other, which sent them in an uncontrolled spin to the ground.
4XO7N TIL that both E.T. and Poltergeist were developed from a single unproduced movie called 'Night Skies'
OGQG7 TIL for-profit bail only exists in 2 countries (US and Philippines). Elsewhere, paying money to leave pretrial detention is considered "a debt trap for poor defendants."
j6XrX TIL a Nilometer was a structure for measuring the Nile River's clarity and water level during the annual flood season