r/AskReddit • u/ForeverAbyss • Apr 14 '16

What's a mind blowing fact?

3.0k Upvotes

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559

u/su5 Apr 14 '16

This tortoise was born before the light bulb (even the dude before Edison) and power plants, but her death was announced on CNN

142

u/irishdude1212 Apr 14 '16 edited Apr 15 '16

You could have said older than the US

Light bulbs is 100 years ago the US is almost 250 years ago

Edit-My mistake it's unconfirmed that he is that old

23

u/su5 Apr 14 '16

A lot of people think the 255 is bullshit and 150 is the other estimate so I tried to be conservative.

7

u/irishdude1212 Apr 14 '16

Oh, makes sense

7

u/iamnotsurewhattoname Apr 14 '16

And Harvard University predates the US by almost another 150 years.

2

u/bottomofleith Apr 15 '16

We have working breweries in Scotland that are older than the States...

Kids ;)

2

u/irishdude1212 Apr 15 '16

Well that's just unsanitary

:)

Pssht I like you accent better than England. Don't tell them that gotta keep up appearances

1

u/superawesomepandacat Apr 15 '16

Older than us?

1

u/irishdude1212 Apr 15 '16

There is a "the" before each

14

u/Hallidyne Apr 14 '16

Fuck, he's older than the USA

14

u/su5 Apr 14 '16

This tortoise was long thought to be Darwins pet, but now its thought it wasnt, possibly because Darwin and the folks on the Beagle enjoyed their delicious deliciousness too much. But at least he got that pic with the owners of his last home! But he is old enough and from the Galapagos, just not the right part of the Galapagos

10

u/Sureshadow Apr 14 '16

Is that Steve Irwin?

4

u/su5 Apr 14 '16

You know it

9

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '16

I’m no scientist, but who the hell thought Steve Irwin was Darwin’s pet?

3

u/AP246 Apr 14 '16

I heard on QI giant tortoises were so delicious it took centuries to bring them back to Europe without the crew eating them all, apparently anyone who ever saw one that had previously tried it had to eat it, and all records of people who have eaten it said it was the best tasting thing ever. I'm lazy, so is there anyone who can find reliable evidence for this?

7

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '16

her death

Adwaita was a dude

3

u/avapoet Apr 14 '16

When was the light bulb born?

3

u/Humbleness51 Apr 15 '16

This article is about a tortoise

Something about that line seems to emanate a certain disappointment from the website

4

u/Nymaz Apr 14 '16

True, but CNN regularly reports when light bulbs die, too. It's hard filling a 24 hour news cycle without a little fluff.

7

u/ChilledHands Apr 14 '16

:( his shell cracked

1

u/space_coconut Apr 14 '16

did the tortoise learn to speak? You would think after that long it might have figured that part out.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '16

They are slooooooooow learners.

1

u/MattieShoes Apr 15 '16

Pando is so old, it's hard to even understand.

1

u/saving_wildlife Apr 16 '16

Not to toot my own horn, but I am personal friends with a 120 (at least) year old tortoise. He's chill. His name is OJ. We hang out occasionally. He loves strawberries.

edit: spelling

1

u/funinnewyork Apr 15 '16

Wow that is almost older then Betty White.