› added 8 years ago

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TIL that many of our most widespread conspiracy theories, such as those surrounding the moon landing, fluoridated water, and JFK’s assassination, were crafted by the KGB in attempts to stir civil unrest.

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b6Dw7 TIL that the word "shrapnel" comes from Lieutenant-General Henry Scrope Shrapnel, inventor of the first Shrapnel shell, whose name eventually came to be associated with the metal fragments his creation produced.
v1pxK TIL: The creators of the "Golden Record" - an audio recording sent into outer space aboard the Voyager spacecraft - wanted to include "Here Come the Sun" by the Beatles, but couldn't afford the $50,000 licensing fee demanded by the band's record company.
x65L0 TIL that an outbreak of cyanide poisoning in Tylenol in 1982 is what brought about safety seals on over-the-counter pill bottles.
oBYar TIL that J.J. Thomson won the Nobel in Physics in 1906 when he showed electrons were particles. His son G. P. Thomson won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937 for showing that electrons are waves.
8aXQP TIL Iron Maiden lead singer, Bruce Dickinson is considered a polymath by Intelligent Life magazine due to excelling in a wide variety of pursuits. He is a commercial pilot, presented shows on radio and TV, written novels, brews his own beer and was once ranked 7th in Great Britain for fencing.