› added 3 years ago

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TIL of the Great Oxidation Event when bacteria evolved photosynthesis about 2.4 BYA, generating O2 as a waste product which changed the methane atmosphere, led to planetary cooling, triggered a series of ice ages, a mass extinction event, new minerals, and led to the evolution of multicellular life.

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5YkJp TIL the actor who played Uncle Lewis in Christmas Vacation (William Hickey) was only 61 years old when the movie was filmed
Nxxb TIL that Scotland once used a currency called ‘The Unicorn’
wLYm7 TIL in the '70s the Israeli government considered the color TVs a luxury that would increase social gaps. A "Color Killer" module had to be installed in imported TVs to prevent the appearance of color. Soon after, an Anti-"Color Killer" device was offered and purchased by 90% of color TV customers.
GApKG TIL about Project Venona, the US effort to decrypt KGB/GRU intercepts leading to some of the greatest intelligence breakthroughs during the cold war. Including exposing critical Soviet assets, (ie. the Rosenbergs, David Greenglass, and Kim Philby)
ANRQw TIL that a Chinese man, years after being dumped by girlfriend, bought every ticket at several IMAX screenings of her favourite movie ‘Transformers’ to demonstrate his affluence.