› added 7 months ago

83

TIL that rockets are launched from near the equator because it gives them a large initial speed, helping reach space with less fuel. Over a 24-hour period, such places travel longer distances than places at higher latitudes, which means that they move faster and have more angular momentum.

Read more education.nationalgeographic.org

via reddit.com

p1wZ TIL that most languages have a bias against left-handed people. Left is derived from ‘lyft’, meaning weak. In Dutch, 'Link’ means cunning. In German, 'link’ means questionable. In Mandarin, it’s zuô, meaning improper, and in Turkish the word for left is sol, which can mean both 'die’ and 'ill’.
09NA TIL that test audiences that viewed the film “Good Night and Good Luck” prior to its release complained that the actor who played Joe McCarthy was too over-the-top, not realizing that the film used archival footage of McCarthy himself.
1aYMO TIL two nuclear bombs were ejected over farms in North Carolina. Neither detonated. The military's investigation found that six of the seven steps required to detonate the bombs had been completed. There was only one trigger which had stopped the blast.
m15nR TIL about La France (airship), the world's first fully controlled flight. In 1884 the electric powered, hydrogen filled airship traveled an 8km round trip, successfully returning to it's starting point.
v1xvj TIL while the professional production of Quadrophenia's cover cost The Who £16,000, their next album's cover featured a caricature of the band that cost them only £32.