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TIL in 1975 Otrag, a West-German company, developed cheap transport rockets. The USSR became nervous, and American corporations concerned about low-cost competitors. American media came to use crude Soviet propaganda to sabotage them, making Otrag evicted from their Congolese base (more in comments)

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LlAP TIL that B. F. Skinner invented a temperature controlled baby crib that he called the “heir conditioner”.
kOlV5 TIL lightning fertilizes plants. When lightning strikes, it rips nitrogen bonds in the atmosphere and the rains carry them into soil.
6EyPQ TIL that Hughes engineers swung a satellite around the Moon and approached earth from a 'stealthy' direction, "downwards from the Moon rather than up from the ground, the way we typically think of missile launches by aggressor nations."
rR8mW TIL the Large Hadron Collider had to be turned off for a period of time because a bit of baguette was found in it.
XEa9Q TIL That in WW2, during the recapture of Kiska, Alaska, the Allies suffered 313 casualties from friendly fire and booby traps despite the fact that the Japanese had already completely withdrawn days ago