› added 10 years ago

209

TIL the reason a Blu-Ray disc holds 5x more data than a DVD is because a blue laser has a lower wavelength than a red one, which means it can read and write data more precisely, much like writing with a ballpoint pen instead of a crayon.

Read more electronics.howstuffworks.com

via reddit.com

p8rYb TIL the US Air Force drops every christmas since 1952 10s of thousands of pounds of supply, food, toys and commodities on the islands of Micronesia. It is the longest running mission of the United States Department of Defense and the longest running humanitarian airlift in the world.
GDrE TIL that African Elephants have 4-6 sets of teeth in their lifetime, and when the last set wears down, they starve to death
b9EBQ TIL that the fiancée of the future serial killer Paul Knowles visited a Psychic medium. The Medium warned her that her fiancée was a “dangerous man”, and she needs to leave him. She called off the wedding and cut off contact with Knowles
J1gmB TIL former dictator of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov ordered the closure of all libraries outside the capital in the belief that all Turkmen are illiterate.
KY0dG TIL that George Curzon who would become the Viceroy of India, was raised by a cruel governess Ellen Mary Paraman who made him wear a red petticoat with insults written on it. His attitude to women after this treatment, was problematic to say the least.