› added 11 years ago

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TIL that in 1956, for a bet, while drunk, Thomas Fitzpatrick stole a small plane from New Jersey and then landed it perfectly on a narrow Manhattan street in front of the bar he had been drinking at. Then, two years later, he did it again after a man didn’t believe he had done it the first time.

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BQEk TIL that Nicolas Flamel, said in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to have been 665 years old and to have created the stone, actually existed, wrote about alchemical secrets, and would have been ~665 years old when the book had been written if he did not die.
KOy9J TIL during the Operations Crossroads Nuclear Test, much of the ships surrounding the blasts were populated with test animals, many died, except for Pig #311, which was found swimming in the lagoon after the blast, and went on to live at the National Zoo in D.C.
M51V TIL That serial killer Jake Bird placed a “Bird Hex” on those attending/working his court trial, claiming “Mark my words, you will die before I do.” 6 People died following the case.
m1Lpo TIL Kenyan science teacher Peter Tabichi who used to give 80% of his salary to poor students, wins $1m global award for World's best teacher in 2019
epgm6 TIL Facing a major banking and public debt crisis in 1340, Florence elected an executive council consisting of a butcher, a used cloth salesman, a dyer, a notary and a member of the Machiavelli family. They saved the state by enacting a radical plan of restructuring and re-funding the public debt