› added 1 year ago

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TIL that Jeanne Geneviève Garnerin of France was the first woman parachutist. In October of 1799 she ascended 900 meters in a balloon, released the gondola, and rode it back down via parachute.

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m5Vp TIL that wheelchair athletes with spinal injuries will sometimes intentionally injure themselves on the lower body (e.g. break a toe), causing their bodies to respond by raising blood pressure and enhaincing their performance. This practice has been banned as cheating.
x655b TIL that Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was actually the first film George Lucas had directed since the first Star Wars in 1977
9VBM TIL peas are categorised as seeds, and the pea pod is a fruit.
plEp TIL an inmate was forcibly tattooed across his forehead with the words “Katie’s revenge” by another inmate after they found out he was serving time for molesting and murdering a 10 year old girl named Katie
WNbB TIL that in the 19th century when Napoleon III invited the King Siam to a dinner, he gave himself Gold Cutlery, his troops Silver & the King of Siam Aluminium. This was no insult but an honour, aluminium was the most valuable metal on the planet. Today, aluminium is $1,800 a ton. Gold is $50 million