› added 2 years ago

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TIL that Australian aboriginal tribes have oral history and legends that accurately describe old geographic features and document the sea rise that are between 7,000 and 18,000 years old.

neKOY TIL Rocket Lab successfully tested their ability to catch a rocket falling back to Earth after launch. Completed in April 2020, the test involved the used rocket, a parachute, a helicopter, and a grappling device on a cable.
R5e6a TIL about another wild incident in the somewhat chaotic history of 1970s California: The Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping. In a crack-brained scheme, 26 kids and a bus driver were kidnapped, buried alive in a truck trailer, and held for ransom. They escaped after 16 hours by digging their way out.
dA1K TIL Billy Joel pursued a music career when he realized he wasn’t going to graduate high school at the end of his senior year. As he recounted, “If I’m not going to Columbia University, I’m going to Columbia Records, and you don’t need a high school diploma over there.” Columbia ended up signing him.
Y76nZ TIL that Clifford Johnson, the most severely burned survivor of 1942's horrific Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in Boston, underwent several hundred operations. He married his nurse and returned home to Missouri. Years later, he burned to death in a fiery automobile crash.
4XGJ6 TIL That Japan burns a portion of its garbage and uses the resulting ash in land reclamation. As of 2012 Japan has created over 250 square kilometers (96 square miles) of new land using this method.