› added 11 years ago

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TIL that a volcanic eruption, over 70,000 years ago, was so destructive that it may have left only 10,000 humans on the planet

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QJwE9 TIL that the movie (The Men Who Stare at Goats) was loosely based on an investigation into attempts by the U.S. military to employ psychic powers as a weapon.
LkGK0 TIL of the California Fur Rush, which occurred in the early to mid 19th century. It happened due to large beaver and otter populations and helped open up the West and especially the San Francisco area to world trade. However, this drove many mammal populations to the brink of extinction.
Z6jY TIL France removes 900 tons of unexploded ordinance each year from the ‘No-Go Zone’. Farmers call it the 'Iron Harvest’.
4X5o6 TIL: In 400BC, the Persians invented a way to make ice in the desert using evaporation cooling
jNnRv TIL giant pandas are under thread of mass starvation due to bamboo mass blossoming this year. After bamboo, panda's main food source, blooms it dies and it takes 10 years for new bamboo to mature. When this happened in 1975 giant panda population dropped from 2000 to 1000 over the next 10 years.