› added 11 years ago

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TIL French criminal Albert Spaggiari was caught after his gang stole 60 million francs worth of valuables from a bank. At his trial, he distracted the judge, jumped out of a window and escaped on a motorcycle specially set up for him. He was never caught again and died a free man.

O974 TIL the European Space Agency and EU are currently deploying an alternative to GPS, called “Galileo”. As well as being accurate to 1 meter, it will also have a “Search and Rescue Service”, where distress signals can be picked up from anywhere on Earth. The full system will be completed by 2019.
4Ba5 TIL - E.T.’s species are called Grebleips, from Spielberg spelled backwards. They are members of the Galactic Senate and can be seen in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
j68ZE TIL Colonel Sanders’ legal career ended after a courtroom brawl (with his own client) destroyed his reputation. He also shot a man, in a business-related shootout.
j6QyM TIL about a woman named Flo Hyman (actual name) who was very tall through her life and worked to become an ‘84 Olympic medalist in women’s volleyball. Later in life, she collapsed and died on the court at the age of 31, and was determined to have been undiagnosed of Marfan Syndrome.
8LVb TIL Nancy Green, born into slavery in 1834, was hired in 1890 to represent “Aunt Jemima”, an advertising character named after a song from a minstrel show. In 1893 Green was introduced as Aunt Jemima at the World’s Columbian Exposition, where it was her job to operate a pancake-cooking display.