› added 4 years ago

112

TIL NASA sent actor and Puppeteer Caroll Spinney a letter asking if he’d be interested in flying in space as Big Bird to get kids interested in space travel, do to the size of the costume this idea was scrubbed and the spot on the Space Shuttle Challenger later went to Christa McAuliffe

Read more nbcnews.com

via reddit.com

a8Nvo TIL that as a teenager, Billy Joel took up boxing so he could defend himself. He boxed successfully on the amateur Golden Gloves circuit for a short time, winning 22 bouts, but abandoned the sport shortly after his nose was broken in his 24th match.
rdy1 TIL that there is a positive correlation between vitamin D and testosterone levels in men. The more sunlight exposure a man gets the more likely it is that he has elevated testosterone levels.
JBRl TIL John McCain put forward a bill (later overturned by Citizen’s United) that planned to take money out of politics
b6lWj TIL that SNL cast member Cecily Strong was expelled from high school for bringing marijuana to school.
QJYMX TIL that Star Trek: The Next Generation was to include dolphins and whales as crewmembers but the idea proved too expensive to film and was stopped except for mentions of Cetacean Operations.