› added 7 years ago

146

TIL that JFK's famous "we choose to go to the moon" speech was made at Rice University, and the line immediately prior to "we choose to go to the moon" was "Why does Rice play Texas?" People were still laughing as he started that now-famous section of the speech.

Read more youtube.com

via reddit.com

KYLVQ TIL in 1985, a black bear in the mountains of Georgia became infamous for consuming a huge quantity of cocaine. A drug smuggler dropped 88lb out of a plane ($15 million worth). Later, the bear was discovered dead near the duffel bag after an overdose and is now taxidermed and on display in Kentucky
PYA7n TIL if ripening cherries are not dried after it rains, they will soak up the water, split, and can't be picked and sold. Helicopters slowly maneuver 5 feet over the trees. The intense rotor wash blasts the water off the cherries! (this is part of the reason cherries are expensive)
nW9Kb TIL that there is no land at the North Pole - just ice. The North Pole is located in the frozen Arctic Ocean. In contrast, the South Pole is located on a massive land mass - a continent. I am 69 - and have always assumed that the North and South Poles are alike.
LkBoP TIL that tens to hundreds of thousands of animals are being slaughtered in Gadhimai festival, known as world's largest animal sacrifice ritual, in Nepal despite ban from the authorities and protests from animal right activists. The scale of the slaughter, however, has decreased sharply over time.
gBl4 TIL 17-year-old Harvard student, Ted Kaczynski, was one of 22 subjects in the CIA-sponsored Project MKUltra. It focused on measuring people’s reactions under extreme stress. Assaults to their egos, cherished ideas and beliefs were the vehicle used to cause high levels of stress and distress.