› added 5 months ago

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TIL the existence of black holes was first proposed in 1783 by John Michell. We weren’t able to capture an image of a black hole until 2019.

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via reddit.com

WKQN TIL the 8 billionth person will most likely be born in 2027
Zdpa TIL the sternocleidomastoid (neck muscle) is often included by creature designers to alien characters to make them seem more attractive and familiar as the muscle is a uniquely mammalian feature. C-3PO has them in the form of pistons on his neck, and so do the good guys in Star Trek.
P1PLw TIL that the term "spam," used to describe unsolicited bulk email, comes from a Monty Python sketch
OWne TIL just while taxiing to take-off, the Concorde burned more fuel than a 737 flying from London to Amsterdam
wond1 TIL that Pope Gregory IX issued a Papal Bull declaring that cats bore Satan’s spirit, which subsequently led to huge numbers of cats being killed throughout Europe producing an indirect cause of the Bubonic plague spread by fleas on rats, which would otherwise have been hunted by the dead cats.