› added 7 years ago

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TIL due to gravitational time dilation the core of the earth is approx. 2.5 years younger than surface. Higher gravitational potential causes time to move faster. For example, over the course of earth's history, a clock at the top of Mt. Everest would be approx. 39 hours fast than at sea level.

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m6ZM TIL In 1920, J. R. R. Tolkien wrote letters to his children as Father Christmas, along with illustrations of his home near the North Pole, and planted it in the youngster’s bedroom. He wrote them until 1943, and with each passing year, his stories became more elaborate and character-filled.
kA4 TIL when Doctor Who head writer, Steven Moffat, was asked by his wife to write a sitcom, he had a drunken lunch came into her office wrote the word “coupling” on a piece of paper and left saying “remind me about this later”, it went on to have four series.
W7jMX TIL every single plant species studied to date contain endophytes; they are symbiotic fungi and bacteria that live inside of the plant's tissues and bring many benefits such as resistance against pathogens, herbivory, drought, etc.
0www1 TIL when the first escalator in London was installed at Harrods in November 1898, customers were offered brandy at the top of the escalator “to revive them after their ordeal.”
mxY4y TIL that 17th century Italian biologist Francesco Redi found that tortoise's brains are so small and irrelevant that when he surgically removed them, they could continue to live for up to six months. When he entirely decapitated one, it still lived for 23 days.