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TIL Scientists took advantage of the three-day flight ban over the US after 9/11 to conduct experiments on the effect on the atmosphere of jet planes. They found the days were a little warmer and the nights cooler, suggesting that the exhaust trails planes leave in the sky act like clouds.

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wo8Do TIL that TON 618, 18.2 billion light years from Earth, is one of the largest black holes in the universe. The gas cloud that surrounds it has a diameter of at least 100 kiloparsecs(330,000 light-years), twice the size of the Milky Way.
neoOb TIL Charles Dance, the actor who plays Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones always remembered his father as being in his early 50's when he died, however later found out his father had died in his mid 70's as he was born in 1874 and had even served in the Boer War
DGRg TIL in 2008 four Scientologists held a woman captive for 6 weeks for ‘Introspection Rundown’, a Church treatment for mental health issues. Police rescuers found her traumatized, semi-nude in a room full of trash. Despite arrests, there’s no indication the Scientologists were convicted on any charges
ORoL TIL that Norman Mineta’s baseball bat was confiscated when he was sent to a Japanese American internment camp as a boy. As a Congressman, he was sent a $1500 bat, which he had to send back, as it exceeded a price limit on gifts. He was quoted as saying, “The damn government’s taken my bat again.”
BM5W TIL that in 1527 189 Swiss guards held off 20,000 Mercenaries so the pope at the time could escape. The pope managed to escape and later hired the 40 guards that survived to be his personal guards.