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TIL: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin almost died on the moon due to a faulty switch. As a result, they were unable to blast off into lunar orbit so Buzz Alrdin had to fix the issue by jamming a pen into the broken switch

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via reddit.com

ep0Og TIL of Kroncong the name of a musical style and ukelele-like instrument from Indonesia that was adapted from the Portuguese Fado.
xVYKw TIL about Diego the Hood Island giant tortoise, who was one of the 15 individuals of his kind that were left in 1976. Through a captive breeding effort, he fathered 900 offspring which helped increase the wild population to 2,000. Last year, he was released back into the wild.
7BdO TIL that octopuses are very intelligent, and that in 1875 an octopus at the Brighton Aquarium would escape its tank when the guards weren’t around, eat the lump fish in another tank, then go back to its own tank before the aquarium opened
Y7DKA TIL if Jazz was invented in New Orleans, Ground Zero was Congo Square, a gathering spot for enslaved Africans enjoying their mandated day off a week as early as 1803 to drum, dance, sing and trade, leading eventually to Mardi Gras Indian traditions, the Second line, jazz, and rhythm and blues.
GAP51 TIL about Klaus Barbie, a Nazi war criminal hiding in Bolivia after the war, was tricked into revealing his true identity during a fake interview by being asked a question in French, a language he wasn't supposed to understand.