TIL China used more cement in three years — between 2011 and 2013 — than the US did in the entire 20th century. https://ift.tt/2kzbG17

TIL Corporal Frank Buckles was the the last surviving American soldier from WWI, passing away in 2011 at age 110. When he was asked his secret for living so long, his advice was simply "when you start to die... don't". https://ift.tt/2mBelbe

TIL when Uranus was discovered it was called George for about 70 years https://ift.tt/2kxUTLK

TIL that Heinrich Heine, one of Germany's most famous poets, wrote- "Where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people as well.". Exactly 120 years later, Heine's writings were burned and banned by Nazi Germany, for he was a Jew. https://ift.tt/2mDEE0t

TIL that Toronto, trash panda capital of the world, spent CA $31 million on raccoon resistant trash bins which uber raccoons were able to figure out in a matter of days. https://ift.tt/2mCfAqN

TIL about Karen Silkwood, a chemical technician who died in a car crash after attempting to expose unethical things done at the nuclear power plant she worked in. https://ift.tt/2m9NAuc

TIL 1,035 professional journalists have been killed in the past 15 years. Syria and Mexico are the deadliest countries for reporters. https://ift.tt/2myTJQJ

TIL when Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 for $1B, the 15-month old Instagram had only 13 employees https://ift.tt/2mckDh6

TIL Blood donors in Sweden get a text message whenever their blood saves someone's life https://ift.tt/2kGbc9u

TIL Andy Kaufman demanded that his alter ego, Tony Clifton, a drunken, cigarette smoking lounge singer/insult comic, have guest appearances on Taxi with his own separate contract. After showing up to set with 2 prostitutes, Clifton was fired. A week later, Andy showed up as if nothing had happened. https://ift.tt/2mELrab

TIL that the CIA's operations in Cuba were so heavily compromised that the Cuban government released a 6-part TV series showing clips of US agents engaging in "undercover" espionage. https://ift.tt/2mkv2Y5

TIL the world's largest musical instrument is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Wanamaker Organ has 28,750 pipes in 464 ranks, laid out across five floors, and has 2 full-time curators to keep it running perfectly. https://ift.tt/2mcKc1G

TIL 3 men found hot metal cylinders in a forest and used them to warm themselves over night. They had found soviet Strontium-90 sources, suffered severe radiation sickness and long term injuries. https://ift.tt/2mmPHuY

TIL Betty Robinson, an Olympic runner, was involved in a plane crash in 1931 and was wrongly pronounced dead upon first being discovered. She spend 7 months in a coma and it took her 2 years to learn to walk normally again. In 1936, she returned to the US olympic team and won gold in the relay. https://ift.tt/2mjVkdi

TIL there's enough iron in the Earth to construct 2 Million Death Stars. https://ift.tt/2mC69HA

TIL The World's oldest Post Office is located in Dumfries, Scotland - opening in 1712 and operating continuously ever since. https://ift.tt/2mlmCA1

TIL that Haiti had to financially recompensate France for lost colonial profits after gaining independence through its successful slave rebellion. This independence debt wasn't paid back in full until 1947. https://ift.tt/2mpkxmo

TIL of Django Reinhardt, a Jazz Gutiarist of the 1930's. He has been called one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century, and he's among the first to play Jazz that featured guitar as the lead instrument. Doing it all while only having 3 fingers on his left hand due to a fire in 1928. https://ift.tt/2lnocBd

TIL about Gangkhar Puensum, which is probably the highest mountain no one has ever climbed, since it's located in a country that bans climbing mountains. https://ift.tt/2laYhNa

TIL TVs emit a tone during ad breaks that are inaudible to humans but that smartphones are listening for; now corporate entities can link the tv & phone as belonging to the same person. It means govt entities can play a tone thru the TV & ping all the phones in the room, identifying the whole group. https://ift.tt/2mmrTay

TIL a US treasure hunter found over $500M worth in gold and silver from Peru sunk in the Atlantic ocean. A legal fight forced them to return the booty to Spain. Some of the coins reportedly found are still "missing". https://ift.tt/2mQmEjx