› added 7 years ago

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TIL that the captain of a United flight had a heart attack mid-flight, and so an off-duty air force captain, Mike Gongol, had to help land the plane, saving 160 lives. He knew he had to help when he heard the PA announcement “are there any non-revenue pilots on board, please ring your call button.”

168A7 TIL about conservation-induced extinction, where attempts to save a critically endangered species directly cause the extinction of another.
awb9y TIL (well, more like realised) that the proud owner of America's ass, Chris Evans played the protagonist's role in this entertaining thriller which I really enjoyed watching as a teenager. Ah, the good old days when mobile phones were a luxury and streaming videos were nigh impossible.
j6GRj TIL of the 2022 Caribbean diving disaster where a group of five divers working for the Paria Fuel Trading Company were sucked into a pipeline from a hyperbaric chamber. One diver managed to crawl to safety, but the other four were left to die, with no attempt being made to rescue them
b60x7 TIL: That in preparation for his role in the movie Hunger (2008), Michael Fassbender went on a special diet of less than 900 calories a day for ten weeks. After meeting with a nutritionist, he settled on a diet of berries, nuts, sardines and underwent periodic medical checks.
1bP4 TIL that a consultant for Richard Nixon suggested a pro-administration news channel to be paid for by the White House dedicated to putting the GOP in a better light. This man was Roger Ailes, who went on to start Fox News in 1996.