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TIl of The “rural purge” of American television networks (in particular CBS) which was a series of cancellations in the early 1970s of still-popular rural-themed shows that led toward ones with supposedly more appeal to urban and suburban audiences.

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8Mr4 TIL the Russian gov’t drilled a ~15km (49,000 ft) borehole into the Earth’s surface but couldn’t continue due to temperatures in excess of 180 °C (356 °F)
Y7JVP TIL Space Center Houston offers Astronaut Days where visitors can meet an astronaut, train like an astronaut, have breakfast with an astronaut. There is also the “All-American Meal,” modeled after the meal served on also S-135, the final shuttle mission
b9O1N TIL in the 1970s, the Soviet bugged IBM typewriters used by the US in Moscow and Leningrad using sophisticated keyloggers. A total of 16 devices were used and despite the large size of the bugs, they remained undiscovered for 8 years.
wLkYE TIL two high school kids did a science experiment and solved the civil war mystery known as the angels glow.
jwOM TIL that more people died during the Mao Era in China (49m to 78m) than all World War II casualties included (40m-72m). Making it the most mortiferous event in human history, only topped by the Black Plague in Europe.