TIL that in 1918 the federal government tried to find the geographical center of the United States by balancing a US-shaped cardboard cutout on the head of a pin. They were accurate to within 20 miles.
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Submitted May 03, 2021 at 05:56PM by SaintShrink
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https://ift.tt/3eQpEDR
Submitted May 03, 2021 at 05:56PM by SaintShrink
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Wikipedia
Geographic center of the United States
The geographic center of the United States is a point approximately 20 mi (32 km) north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota at 44°58′2.07622″N 103°46′17.60283″W / 44.9672433944°N 103.7715563417°W. It has been regarded as such by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey…
TIL about the ghostly radio station, commonly known as "the Buzzer", situated in Russia that no one claims to run. It’s been broadcasting a dull, monotonous tone twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for the last three-and-a-half decades. Anyone can listen to it by tuning a radio to 4625 kHz.
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Submitted May 03, 2021 at 03:18PM by quackycoder
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https://ift.tt/2FFgwAK
Submitted May 03, 2021 at 03:18PM by quackycoder
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Bbc
The ghostly radio station that no one claims to run
“MDZhB” has been broadcasting since 1982. No one knows why.
TIL there used to be so many oysters in the Chesapeake Bay that they piled up almost to the water's surface, causing navigational hazards. Then we harvested them by the millions, and now the population is down by 99.7%. It's one of "the largest documented declines of a marine species"
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Submitted May 03, 2021 at 05:56PM by howmuchbanana
via reddit https://ift.tt/3399QXc
https://ift.tt/3vAGUUo
Submitted May 03, 2021 at 05:56PM by howmuchbanana
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University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
History of oysters
TIL sperm don't race to the egg. They are passively transported via "pumping & wafting", weeding out the high number of "duds" that human males have. Many are stored in side-channels for up to 10 days. The sperm introduced to the egg are a random sampling, & don't represent "survival of the fittest"
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Submitted May 03, 2021 at 07:48PM by howmuchbanana
via reddit https://ift.tt/3t9u0Lq
https://ift.tt/2PyU28u
Submitted May 03, 2021 at 07:48PM by howmuchbanana
via reddit https://ift.tt/3t9u0Lq
Aeon
The macho sperm myth
The idea that millions of sperm are on an Olympian race to reach the egg is yet another male fantasy of human reproduction
TIL: The Romans called giving the middle finger 'digitus impudicus', the indecent finger. It was historically a phallic gesture, the middle finger being the penis and the curled fingers on either side the testicles.
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Submitted May 03, 2021 at 07:03PM by timmy6169
via reddit https://ift.tt/2PN1aTy
https://ift.tt/1GBpoOe
Submitted May 03, 2021 at 07:03PM by timmy6169
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Wikipedia
The finger
hand gesture
TIL Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, endured many tragedies. Her mother died after giving birth to her, she was in constant debt, her 1st, 2nd, and 3rd children all died, while her husband drowned on his sailing boat. She herself passed away at 53.
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Submitted May 03, 2021 at 08:05PM by MarineKingPrime_
via reddit https://ift.tt/3nH1y2v
https://ift.tt/1WBVjK2
Submitted May 03, 2021 at 08:05PM by MarineKingPrime_
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Wikipedia
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (UK: /ˈwʊlstənkrɑːft/; née Godwin; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She…
TIL that in 1977, the FBI started to build a tunnel under the Soviet Embassy in Washington D.C to eavesdrop on the Soviets; the construction took years, was riddled with complications, and worse yet - the Soviets knew about the tunnel because of a tip-off
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Submitted May 03, 2021 at 10:23PM by here_for_fun_XD
via reddit https://ift.tt/3vDPq58
https://ift.tt/3tgTWG7
Submitted May 03, 2021 at 10:23PM by here_for_fun_XD
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Wikipedia
Operation Monopoly
Operation Monopoly was a covert plan by the FBI to build a tunnel underneath the new Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C., to gather secret intelligence. In 1977, the embassy of the Soviet Union was relocated to a new building complex. There were fears that…
TIL That one of the most important mathematical books ever written, Principia Mathematica, needed 360 pages to prove that 1 + 1 = 2. The book itself is considered so advanced and hard to understand that it's rarely used in academia at all.
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Submitted May 03, 2021 at 06:32PM by I-POOP-RAINBOWS
via reddit https://ift.tt/3eejwGv
https://ift.tt/3vGY5U6
Submitted May 03, 2021 at 06:32PM by I-POOP-RAINBOWS
via reddit https://ift.tt/3eejwGv
TIL about Lafayette,a french aristocrat proclaimed to be 'The Hero of Two Worlds.' He fought as a general For America during the American Revolution, then went to France and fought as a General for the People in the French Revolution.
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 12:44AM by Crunktd
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https://ift.tt/1BvKknh
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 12:44AM by Crunktd
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Wikipedia
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
French general and politician
TIL in 1992, Barqs rootbeer ran a promotion giving away USSR memorabilia with proof of purchase as a Communism is going out of business sale, resulting in a 30% increase in sales.
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 03:42AM by Sleepisahobby
via reddit https://ift.tt/2RqErgj
https://ift.tt/2PK3Ile
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 03:42AM by Sleepisahobby
via reddit https://ift.tt/2RqErgj
Chief Marketer
From Russia with Root Beer - Chief Marketer
EVERY NOW AND THEN you see a promotion and you say to yourself; damn I wish I'd thought of that! Then there are the even less frequent occasions where
TIL that since 2012, 6 people have choked to death during competitive eating contests.
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 02:51AM by gremlin_encounters
via reddit https://ift.tt/339OQQn
https://ift.tt/3nNFpzE
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 02:51AM by gremlin_encounters
via reddit https://ift.tt/339OQQn
Wikipedia
Competitive eating
Activity in which participants compete to consume large quantities of food
TIL that had Otis Redding not died “Sittin’ On The Dock of The Bay” would have not been released. Record producers didn’t like it, but right after the plane crash wanted to cash in on his death
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 01:42AM by fatkiddown
via reddit https://ift.tt/3efp8Ab
https://ift.tt/2mamKzl
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 01:42AM by fatkiddown
via reddit https://ift.tt/3efp8Ab
reddit
TIL that had Otis Redding not died “Sittin’ On The Dock of The...
Posted in r/todayilearned by u/fatkiddown • 2,031 points and 67 comments
TIL Bill Gates had an arrangement with Melinda that he and his ex-girlfriend, Ann Winblad, could keep one vacation tradition alive. Every spring, as they have for more than a decade, Gates spends a long weekend with Winblad at her beach cottage.
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 05:14AM by -_-bitcoinbuddha
via reddit https://ift.tt/3xKfdKI
https://ift.tt/3un5yry
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 05:14AM by -_-bitcoinbuddha
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TIME.com
In Search of the Real Bill Gates
He's the most famous businessman in the world. Reams have been written about how he dominated the revolution in personal computing and is now poised to turn Microsoft into a media and Internet...
TIL "Highway hypnosis" is an altered mental state in which a person can safely drive an automobile great distances with no recollection of having consciously done so. It is a manifestation of automaticity, where the conscious and subconscious minds are able to concentrate on different things.
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 12:41PM by quackycoder
via reddit https://ift.tt/3nJDNXD
https://ift.tt/1GsetGO
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 12:41PM by quackycoder
via reddit https://ift.tt/3nJDNXD
Wikipedia
Highway hypnosis
altered mental state
TIL a former Google employee bought the Google domain for $12 from Google's very own domain registrar. He owned the domain for one minute before the purchase was rescinded, and he was later offered $6006.13 due to the incident.
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 06:55AM by CrossFIRE121-Reddit
via reddit https://ift.tt/3ePNFLo
https://ift.tt/3h0gkji
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 06:55AM by CrossFIRE121-Reddit
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CNNMoney
The guy who bought Google.com from under Google's nose
Google confirms that ex-employee Sanmay Ved bought the Google.com domain for about a minute last fall for $12, and that it paid $12,000 to charity to get it back.
TIL men and women used to compete against each other in skeet shooting at the Olympics, until a woman won in 1992. Since then, the event has been split by gender.
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 04:43PM by 02K30C1
via reddit https://ift.tt/3b37Jsr
https://ift.tt/2PRAotg
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 04:43PM by 02K30C1
via reddit https://ift.tt/3b37Jsr
International Olympic Committee
International Shooting Sport Federation - Olympic Sport
Shooting has been contested since the inaugural modern Olympic Games in 1896.
Olympic expansion
Shooting has come a long way since its debut at the inaugural Games in 1896.
Olympic expansion
Shooting has come a long way since its debut at the inaugural Games in 1896.
TIL that a cow escaped from a Polish farm and was spotted months later living with a herd of wild bison.
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 04:31PM by TBTabby
via reddit https://ift.tt/3nJc35o
https://ift.tt/3ehecls
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 04:31PM by TBTabby
via reddit https://ift.tt/3nJc35o
The Independent
Cow escapes farm to live with herd of bison
'Bison are like one organism and she stands out'
TIL Hall & Oates never really liked to be referred to as "Hall & Oates". In an interview with Esquire, Oates said, "There isn't one album that says Hall and Oates. It's always Daryl Hall and John Oates, from the very beginning. People never note that"
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 05:45PM by too_shy_to_sing
via reddit https://ift.tt/3b0yRbD
https://ift.tt/3vDknWY
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 05:45PM by too_shy_to_sing
via reddit https://ift.tt/3b0yRbD
Wikipedia
Hall & Oates
American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates
TIL that the marriage of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the longest presidential marriage in US history. They had already been married for 30 years when Carter was sworn in as president in 1977.
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 02:41PM by Reddit-r-fifa
via reddit https://ift.tt/3xTEXob
https://ift.tt/3aY9hEg
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 02:41PM by Reddit-r-fifa
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Potus
Length of Marriage | Presidents of the United States (POTUS)
Length of time the Presidents of the United States were married.
TIL When Bill Gates got married, he bought out all the available hotel rooms in Lanai to keep media from staying there & hired all the helicopters on Maui to keep photographers from flying over the wedding
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 06:42PM by Battle4Seattle
via reddit https://ift.tt/3h6PPsR
https://ift.tt/3h6YjQJ
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 06:42PM by Battle4Seattle
via reddit https://ift.tt/3h6PPsR
TIL that since founding the Imagination Library, Dolly Parton has delivered 100 million books. Why? She quotes: "Daddy couldn't read and write, and that was kind of crippling to him"
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Submitted May 04, 2021 at 09:58PM by DeHippo
via reddit https://ift.tt/3uls1F9
https://ift.tt/2CSo0N4
Submitted May 04, 2021 at 09:58PM by DeHippo
via reddit https://ift.tt/3uls1F9