› added 3 years ago

168

TIL about HD 189733b, a blue planet the size of Jupiter about 63 lightyears away from Earth. The surface temperature is a staggering 1000°C, wind speeds average at around 7000 kilometers per hour, and it rains molten glass... sideways.

Read more space.com

via reddit.com

7rpAb TIL that Milky Way obstructs our view of around 20% of the extragalactic sky at visible wavelengths. That area is called the Zone of Avoidance and it is the reason humans do not have a complete picture of the extragalactic sky yet.
OoxN7 TIL Simon was a ship's cat who served on the HMS Amethyst. In 1949, during the Yangtze Incident, he received the highest medal available to military animals after surviving injuries from a cannon shell, raising morale, and killing off a rat infestation during his service.
ONYa TIL 1983 blockbuster WarGames (Matthew Broderick) caused President Reagan to ask national security officials if this type of “hacking” was possible; Gen. Vessey replied “The problem is much worse than you think.” This influenced national security policy, ARPAnet, & ultimately the modern Internet
Y7ZAx TIL of the Wendat chief Kondiaronk, who's efforts concluded in what is known as The Great Peace of Montreal (1701) between France, the Iroquois, and the other Indian tribes of the Upper Great Lakes. This ended the Beaver Wars and helped open up the interior of North America to deeper French explorat
N70MM TIL that when the first trains came out, their terrifying speed of twenty miles an hour made people think they would suffocate or even have Women's Uteruses fly out.