› added 2 months ago

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TIL: 1995 Daegu gas explosion in S.Korea, over 100 people were launched into the air, rained down and crushed by debris. First responders described flattened, disfigured bodies, some stretched to nearly double their original size from the impact. The disaster remains relatively unknown today.

OGlb1 TIL about the 1815 Mount Tambora massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia with what followed called "the year without a summer". Global temps plunged, crops failed, people starved, and a cholera pandemic spread. Geological evidence suggests a 1-in-6 chance of a massive eruption this century.
Eg49w TIL The name of the family in the Swiss Family Robinson is not actually Robinson (which isn't a Swiss name) but refers to the novel being part of the "Robinsonade" genre of literature, referring to Robinson Crusoe
vLmx TIL adult Luna moths have no mouths, they live off the energy they stored as a caterpillar
WkK44 TIL that the first major wave of the bubonic plague was the Justinianic plague of 541-547 A.D. It is named after the Byzantine emperor at the time; Justinian I. The disease killed 20% of the imperial capital and the ensuing pandemic is believed to have killed 25%-60% of Europe's population.
R5ZG4 TIL In the 1590s, a Spanish admiral made up an entire nation, complete with dozens of fake coats of arms, so that he could claim to be a nobleman and join a fraternity of knights. In doing so, he accidentally popularized the pan-South-Slavic movement, and caused the founding of Yugoslavia in 1918.