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TIL of Pan Am Flight 121, which crashed in the Syrian desert in 1948. Gene Roddenberry (future creator of Star Trek) was the highest-ranked surviving crew member and took command of rescue and relief efforts.

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N7ZgM TIL that in the 19th century, America was notorious for exporting adulterated food and counterfeiting European products, similar to how China is regarded by the West today.
x66j7 TIL There is more fresh water floating around in the atmosphere than in all the rivers of Earth combined.
xle1 Til of Betelgeus: a massive star 450 light years away that may go supernova at any given moment and outshine the moon at night and be clearly visible during the day.
Oo8DR TIL public urinals or "Pissoirs" were used by the French Resistance during World War II as places to meet for a private conversation or to leave a message for someone without the Nazi’s finding out.
egkn TIL Nicholas Saunderson (1683-1739) lost his eyes to smallpox before he was a year old, yet he taught himself to read by tracing the letters on gravestones and learned languages and mathematics by pricking holes in paper. He became the fourth professor of Mathematics at Cambridge.