› added 1 month ago

8

TIL that one of the main motivations for Texan secession and the resulting siege of the Alamo was the Texans' desire to preserve chattel slavery.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

pYrNN TIL When a star like our Sun dies, it doesn’t explode into a supernova or collapse into a black hole. Instead, it gently sheds its outer layers, which form a beautiful cloud called a “planetary nebula”, while the dying star’s core becomes a white dwarf.
wL0A7 TIL that people who can't smell things are called ANOSMIC
gr1n4 TIL white rice is just brown rice with its outer layer milled off.
OoWg4 TIL DeepSqueak software identifies rodent vocalizations using neural networks like those developed for self-driving cars. Researchers have found about 20 different calls, such as happy ones when anticipating a reward or playing with friends, or courtship when males are with females.
RQ6l TIL of ‘Red Shirt Guy’ who stumped a panel of World Of Warcraft devs during a Q&A at BlizzCon, 2010, after asking about an inconsistency in the lore. Later, an NPC was introduced into the game who wore a bright red shirt and was named Wildhammer Fact Checker.