Today I learned

TIL about the British arthictectural artist and autistic savant, Stephen Wiltshire. He is able to draw an entire landscape in detail from memory after seeing it just once.

Stephen Wiltshire - Wikipedia

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TIL that the angelshark, a flat bodied shark that hides buried in sand like a ray, has disappeared from over 90% of its historic range in European waters due to fishing bycatch, with only small populations surviving today, mainly around the Canary Islands. https://www.britannica.com/animal/angel-shark-fish-genus #til #todayilearned

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TIL in the eyes of the presidents on Mt Rushmore, holes were carved in with one cube of granite left in each eye.

Construction of Mount Rushmore - Wikipedia

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TIL that until 1992, the UK had a nuclear attack early warning siren code that, until the early 1960's, included the use of church bells to signify impending fallout.

British Cold War Nuclear Warning System

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TIL Chernobyl’s three other reactors were restarted and continued to run for years after the Chernobyl Disaster, with the last one shutting down in 2000, 14 years after the disaster

Backgrounder on Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident | Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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TIL that in 1900, a physician named Jesse William Lazear wanted to prove that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes. He allowed an infected mosquito to bite him, and he became infected with yellow fever, proving his hypothesis correct. He died 17 days later

Jesse William Lazear - Wikipedia

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TIL Napoleon had planned an invasion of the UK but it was never carried out. Preparations were financed by the sale of the Louisiana territory to the US which the US financed with a loan from a British bank, so Britain was indirectly funding an invasion of itself.

South East England - Wikipedia

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TIL that ancient statues were painted and not being plain marble like we have them today.

The Ancient Home

Were Greek & Roman Statues Painted ? The True Colors of the Classical World

Polychrome is the art of painting with colors, whether it is two-dimensional (pictures, walls) or three-dimensional (sculpture, architectural eleme...

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TIL Mike Illich, the founder of Little Caesars, paid for Rosa Parks’ rent in secret for the rest of her life after she was robbed and assaulted in her home https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/15/us/mike-ilitch-rosa-parks-trnd #til #todayilearned

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TIL about the logician and mathematician, Kurt Gödel, who later developed an obsessive fear of being poisoned and refused to eat food prepared by anyone but his wife. When she became ill and was hospitalized, he starved to death at 71 years old. When he died he only weighed about 65 pounds (29 kg).

Kurt Gödel - Wikipedia

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