/f/todayilearned
TIL the Pacific island nation of Nauru has been so damaged by phosphate mining that in 1964 Australia offered to repopulate the entire nation to Curtis Island near the Australian Coast. Nauru refused the offer in order to maintain their sovereignty and not become part of Australia.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by triviafrenzy t3_10z80ds
TIL In 1930, to make way for a new building, the Indiana Bell Building, weighing 11,000 tons, was moved 16 meters and rotated 90°. The work took a month to finish and did not disrupt the building's essential services, nor its gas, water, and electricity supply. No one inside felt the building move.
archdaily.comSubmitted by LPercepts t3_z5fhvz
TIL of Joseph Trombino, a security guard who survived the 1981 Brink’s robbery in Nyack, NY. He continued working for the company for the next 20 years, was nearly killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and was ultimately killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by schmo_hawk t3_xydsph
TIL about the void that forms under certain trees when it snows, called tree wells. The upper branches of the tree prevents snow from falling below it, creating a pocket that is a serious peril for skiers & snow boarders. Several die every year from falling head first into these voids.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Roguecop t3_1280l2q
TIL that Mattiedna Johnson, born to Mississippi sharecroppers in 1918, used techniques she’d used to make things like butter, jam and soap on her childhood farm to develop techniques to capture and preserve molds for research that eventually helped in the development of drugs to fight scarlet fever.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by RedditPrat t3_126093h
TIL - Modern mammals are unique among vertebrates for possessing three tiny bones in the middle ear, which are unique in that they are separated from the jaw, critical because it allows the separation of hearing and chewing, and also allows hearing of high-pitched noises.
nature.comSubmitted by byronhadleigh t3_11ddict
Submitted by Danielnrg t3_ygepfo
TIL that Milton Bradley originally had been in the business of selling pictures of celebrities. After his biggest seller Abraham Lincoln grew his iconic beard and rendered his entire stock of lithographs worthless and had customers demanding their money back, MB switched to selling board games
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Loki-L t3_117n8bm
Submitted by kkoolook t3_101ej0g