/r/todayilearned
TIL Death Valley's premier town, Furnace Creek, is home to a par 70 golf course that sits 214 feet below sea level.
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TIL that Magnesium helped advance photojournalism. The first photography flash, a powder mix of Mg & potassium, created bright light when ignited. Jacob Riis was an early adopter and used it to document life in the often dark NYC's tenements. His work sparked public outcry, and then housing reforms
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TIL that Orthostatic Hypotension is the term for low blood pressure that can cause dizziness or fainting when rising quickly after sitting or laying down after long periods of time.
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TIL that lobsters can discard their limbs in a process called "reflex amputation": new limbs then grow to replace them.
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TIL About Tolkien Peak, which is near Mount Gandalf, Mount Aragorn, and Mount Shadowfax, in British, Columbia, Canada. taken from fictional characters in his books, which were read while waiting out stormy weather during the 1972 first ascents.
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TIL at Christmastime in Ethiopia, villagers play a long-distance hockey-like game called Gena in the space between villages but with no defined boundaries.
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TIL that the typical tax evader in the U.S. is a male under the age of 50 in a high tax bracket and with a complicated return, and the most common means of tax evasion is the overstatement of charitable contributions, particularly church donations.
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TIL the Madrid Open experimented with blue clay tennis courts to make it easier to follow the ball on TV. But the courts proved too unsafe for players due to the process of dyeing the clay, resulting in slippery and uneven courts; blue clay was subsequently banned.
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TIL that in pre-Roman Sardinia, whenever elderly people were no longer able to support themselves, they were given a neurotoxic plant called "Sardonic Herb" and then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death. The term "sardonic grin" comes from the facial expression they had after their death.
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