› added 8 years ago

191

TIL astronomer Ptolemy thought that the gods, out of curiosity/boredom, would peer down at the earth from between the spheres; when this happened, stars would slip out of this gap, flashing towards the earth. Shooting stars meant that the gods are now paying attention to whatever you would wish for.

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j6rRv TIL that despite their presence in pop culture, the Nine Realms of Norse cosmology are never clearly defined or listed in any of the sources of old Norse folklore that survived to the modern day
yK1e TIL While parachuting, an American aviator downed a Japanese fighter plane by shooting the pilot in the head with his sidearm.
W70WA TIL of a phylum of animals called Priapuldia (Little Priapus, the Roman god of fertility) AKA "Penis Worms, enjoy!
rRjjd TIL: The Shipwreck of the Andrea Doria, has earned it the nickname of "The Everest of Diving" due it's depth of 240 ft and the over a dozen divers who lost their life attempting it .
BrvQx TIL that the reason why most birds sleep on one leg is that they have no plumage there. They therefore lift a leg up to keep it warm and thus limit heat exchange while maintaining the possibility of flying away quickly in case of danger.