› added 8 years ago

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TIL African continent is being split into two due to the birth of a new ocean. In 2005, an 8 meter wide and 60km long stretch of the earth opened up over a period of just ten days.

N76GM TIL that for the film 'Ray' (2004), Jamie Foxx had to wear eye prosthetics that would make him go blind for up to 12 hours a day. It barely left him any time to sleep because he would practice piano after shooting with the blindfold on. He went on to win the Oscar for best actor for his performance.
xVQa7 TIL having had seven long haul aircraft and 1,500 of their passengers diverted to Canada during the 9/11 attacks, the German airline Lufthansa christened a brand new aircraft 'Gander/Halifax' as symbol of gratitude. The Mayors of both towns attended the ceremony.
JYGpV TIL of "Sluggish Schizophrenia," used in the Soviet Union to describe a form of schizophrenia characterized by a slowly progressive course. It was often diagnosed in those who exhibited no symptoms of disorders; this would deprive people of their credibility and was used against political dissidents
g7W7 TIL that when Marie Curie’s body was exhumed it was found that her radium levels were below the acceptable limit. She likely got cancer from her early work in the military, not from her pioneering research into radioactivity.
QNE7d TIL Freshwater snails are one of the world's most deadly animals because they transmit the organism that causes schistosomiasis (aka bilharzia), which is, in and of itself, one of the most deadly parasites on the planet! Nearly 230m people were infected in 2014 and there are~200,000 deaths annually.