› added 5 years ago

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TIL That a % chance of rain doesn’t exactly mean there is a specific chance for rain. Rather, it is a formula that considers how confident the meteorologist is and what % of the area is likely to get rain. If a met. is 50% confident that 50% of an area will get rain, the “chance” for rain is 25%.

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rRKDW TIL that Samuel L. Jackson’s famous role in Pulp Fiction was written specifically for him, as Quentin Tarantino wanted to work with him after he auditioned for Reservoir Dogs but didn’t get the part.
NXrJQ TIL that “acclimation societies” used to intentionally introduce non-native species into new environments. House sparrows and starlings were introduced to the US this way. There are now 200 million starlings in North America, and they are listed as one of the 100 worst invasive species.
Lk4Wd TIL Nostradamus' predictions were based on past events; he simply believed history would repeat itself. He would pick historical events at random, then use astrological calculations to figure out when they'd happen again. Also, he wrote a cookbook.
yQkWX TIL that when accepting Japan's surrender in WW2, the Canadian representative signed on the wrong line. This set off a chain reaction of wrong signatures that ended with MacArthur's Chief of Staff having to cross out and amend the document in pen.
4X4wa TIL after a group sued the CIA to release files related to El Salvadoran war crimes, its office was broken into and most of their data was stolen.