› added 2 weeks ago

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TIL about the Widowhood Effect: When a husband or wife dies, the surviving spouse faces a higher risk of dying over the next few months.

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via reddit.com

Bjge TIL that when Lodewijk van den Ber designed an experiment for the Space Shuttle, NASA asked for a list of eight people who could fly in orbit to run it. Adding his own name to finish the list, to van den Ber’s amazement he became the first Dutch spaceman despite his age (53) and physical condition.
BrRKd TIL that a human would have to eat 300 hamburgers just to match the equivalent of what hummingbirds consume to survive every day.
7Jwx TIL when John Carmack was 14, he broke into a school to steal Apple II computers. Carmack concocted a sticky substance of Thermite mixed with Vaseline that melted through the windows. However, an accomplice set off an alarm & alerted police. Carmack was then sentenced to a year in a juvenile home.
N7R18 TIL about a tattooed biker gang called Rescue Ink, who travel around rescuing neglected and abused animals and taking them to no-kill shelters/rehabilitation centres.
x6pb0 Today I learned Oliver Stone originally wanted Jim Morrison to play Charlie Sheen's role in Platoon. He had a copy of the script with him (titled 'Break' at the time) in Paris when he died.