› added 7 years ago

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TIL Solomon Northup, a free African American living in New York in the 1800s, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the south. As a slave, he had no way to testify his case. He remained a slave for 12 years before finally being freed. He then wrote a memoir "Twelve Years A Slave".

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VM1O0 TIL powdered juice drinks like Tang were an absolute flop until astronauts took them into space for eating experiments in 1962. Astronauts preferred Tang over other all of the other drinks they brought to space because it was easy to make. It had nothing to do with flavor.
8eYkL TIL in Dec 1943, the B-24 Leon Crane was copiloting experienced engine failure & crashed into an Alaskan mountaintop. He was the only survivor of the 5 crew after he managed to bail in time. He then survived 84 days in the wilderness starting with only some matches, a Boy Scout knife & his parachute
Y7VbP TIL about the Pit of Despair, an apparatus used in widely-condemned experiments that isolated young monkeys in a dark, smooth tank with sloped sides and a curved base. The monkeys were left isolated and hopeless in the dark for months, supposedly to induce and study depression.
wGgM TIL the chains that you can see hanging under school buses and trucks are there to provide traction in snow. With the flip of a switch, the chains will lower automatically and the centrifugal force sends the chains into action. [Video]
dmgZ TIL: The patent for the Lego brick expired years ago, which is why copycat products like Mega Bloks are allowed to exist.