› added 10 years ago

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TIL engineers that worked on the Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” aircraft couldn’t come up with a proper fuel sealing system that could handle the thermal expansion of the airframe at extreme temperatures, so the aircraft would leak jet fuel on the runway.

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1a4dV TIL that United Airlines operated daily "men only" flights between New York and Chicago from 1953 to 1970
eKZ5 TIL The only time the letter Y is a vowel is when your tongue doesn’t touch your palate (roof of mouth). If it does then it is a consonant. examples being yellow = consonant, sky = vowel.
l70va TIL that lightsabers came from the pulp magazines! George Lucas cribbed the concept of "laser swords" from stories in 1930s pulps such as "Magic Carpet," "Weird Tales," and "Amazing Stories."
6917X TIL that one of Saint Nicholas' most renowned gifts was providing a destitute man with sufficient funds for each of his three daughters to receive a suitable dowry. This enabled the three girls to circumvent a life of prostitution to sustain themselves.
j40X TIL that in 1985 JAL flight 123, a Boeing 747 flying from Tokyo to Osaka, lost its tail mid-flight. During the 32 minute descent and then crash into the mountains, many passengers wrote goodbye notes to their loved ones on airplane drink napkins. Of the 520 passengers on board, 4 survived.