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TIL Unibrows are attractive in Tajikistan

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XyNR TIL that a man flew three times on the Space Shuttle without being an astronaut. Charles Walker got turned down by NASA but found a space-related job at McDonnell Douglas. McDonnell Douglas paid NASA $40,000 per flight for Walker to operate its experiments on the shuttle as a payload specialist.
BgdVx TIL About The New London School Explosion, 294 lives lost to odorless natural gas. The US took action 33 years later by requiring natural gas to be detectable. Companies added Mercaptan to odorize the gas. This was being done in Europe as early as the 1880s.
WkOZX TIL that University College in London created a tube map showing the average life expectancy of those born near each train station. Some born just 1 stop apart had differences of over a decade.
epePb TIL that there is a rare parasitic disease called Guinea Worm Disease that causes blisters so painful that people seek cool water to alleviate the pain, also allowing the worm to release larvae. The painful blisters led to this worm's nickname of "fiery serpent."
VMMbD TIL there are more tigers living in captivity in the US (at least ~5000, likely much more) than there are living in the wild globally (~3200). Of those ~5000, only ~6% live in zoos and accredited facilities. The rest are privately owned, many living in residential backyards.