76Satellites

Satellites are programmed to avoid meteorites so they don't get destroyed. Of over 8,000 satellites orbiting the Earth, only one has ever been destroyed by a meteorite.
77. Around 3000 BC, a meteor crashed into the Indian Ocean, creating a 30km-wide crater. This caused a tsunami to hit coastal areas, including Mesopotamia, which is the origin of the flood myths (such as Noah's Ark).
78. A sailing ship called Eclipse was overtaken by a hurricane, and then it was hit by a meteor.
79. A meteor strike in the Americas caused a tsunami that wiped out villages in Europe in 1014 AD.
80. A battle, involving over 30,000 Roman troops and a larger Pontic opposition, resulted in a tie, after both sides withdrew from the field scared, as they witnessed a ‘silvery-hot’ meteor bombarding the middle ground between them.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
811833 Leonids meteor shower

The 1833 Leonids meteor shower, the largest one ever recorded estimated at 240,000 "Shooting Stars" per hour (~67 every second) radiating from Leo constellation over a 9 hour period. The event had such an impact on society that it was used to date people with no birth certificate.
82. The only natural route through the Appalachians was formed by a meteor.
83. One-third of humanity (including 60% of Europeans and 80% of North Americans) live in such light polluted areas that the Milky Way is not visible at night.
84. Democritus hypothesized that the milky way was actually distant suns in ~480BC.
85. The center star of Orion's sword isn't a star, it's the Orion Nebula and is the only nebula visible from Earth with the naked eye.
86Orion

The Tarantula Nebula is so luminous that if it were as close to Earth as Orion, it would cast shadows.
87. There's a type of neutron star called a Magnetar which has a magnetic field that's so powerful that being within 1,000 miles of one would warp all the atoms in your body and from a distance of 100,000 miles away it would be able to wipe out the data of every credit card on the planet.



