› added 3 months ago

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TIL the first possible tornado report in the United States occurred in July 1643. The report was recorded by Massachusetts Governor and weather enthusiast John Winthrop, who observed a sudden gust that whipped up dust, lifted his meeting house, and killed a nearby observer with a fallen tree.

Read more celebrating200years.noaa.gov

via reddit.com

OQrL TIL there is a 500-year-old statue of a man eating a sack of babies in Bern, Switzerland, and nobody is sure why.
WkDPN TIL about the Human Towers of Barcelona/Catalon, often reaching a height of 9-10 people high
QJV7p TIL that Vanderbilt University, founded in 1873, is named in honor of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million endowment and hoped that his gift and the work of the university would help to heal the sectional wounds inflicted on the American nation by the Civil War.
XE7w8 TIL there is a hotel called the Greenbrier in West Virginia. A bunker was built under the hotel in the late 50s to house Congress in the event of a nuclear war. It was outted by the Washington Post and subsequently closed. It's now open for tours.
N7XyP TIL according to Michael Jackson's sister, he had enough propofol in his body at the time of his death to kill an elephant.