› added 10 months ago

78

TIL that piston-engined aircraft still add lead to their fuel. In a deliberate attempt at lessening the perceived impact, high lead is called "low leaded fuel," and leaded fuel is called "very low leaded fuel" despite there being no safe upper limit for lead additives in fuel

Read more faa.gov

via reddit.com

9wQeG TIL of castaway huts (or depots) which are deliberately placed on isolated islands by governments. They contain supplies and tools which can help people who become stranded there. Most were built by the New Zealand government in the 19th and 20th centuries.
mxw0x TIL about the Singing Revolution which was a series of events between 1987 and 1991 in the Baltic States which incorporated the singing of patriotic songs as a method of protest against the Soviet Union. These events would ultimately result in the Baltic State gaining their independence.
aw9WM TIL A theme park in France employ ravens to clear the park off cigarette butts in return for a reward (bird food).
awjxJ TIL that the world's largest cemetery is Wadi-us-Salaam ("Valley of Peace") in Najaf, Iraq - it contains tens of millions of bodies over an area of 6 km², and approximately 500,000 new bodies from around the globe are buried there annually
XYQD TIL J.R.R. Tolkien taught himself Finnish at 18, just so he could read one book, the Kalevala–which he used as a basis for Middle Earth legendarium.