› added 7 years ago

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TIL that the moon is 1/400th the size of the sun but also 1/400th the distance from Earth which results in the moon and the sun being the same size in the sky, a coincidence not shared by any other known planet-moon combination.

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via reddit.com

xVj70 TIL that on the Mississippi River in the 1850s, the word "two" was often pronounced "twain." When leadsmen measured a depth of two fathoms, they shouted "mark twain!" The American writer Mark Twain, a former river pilot from Missouri, got his pen name from this phrase.
7rmbL TIL Pakistan was actually two countries, with 'East' and 'West' Pakistan. East Pakistan was over 1300 miles away and subsequently became the country of Bangledesh in 1971.
0wXop TIL the tallest living tree in the world is a redwood, named Hyperion, located in a secret and remote area of the Redwood National and State Parks. Measured at 155.5 m (379.1 ft) tall, it stands taller than Big Ben and the Statue of Liberty!
nWLdb TIL in 1938 a New York wallet manufacturer placed a sample Social Security card inside each of its wallets sold nationwide to show that the cards fit. The card included the real Social Security number of a company secretary. Over the years more than 40,000 people used that same number as their own.
6Y5Q TIL portable refrigeration was made possibly by Frederick McKinley, a black inventor. His invention allowed the transport of perishable goods across large distances. His inventions were also widely used during World War 2 to preserve medicine, blood, and food for use at hospitals on the battlefield.