› added 12 years ago

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TIL on October 21, 1978, a 20yo Australian pilot flying over the Bass Straight reported an aircraft flying 1,000ft above him. His last transmission to ATC was “it is hovering and it’s not an aircraft”. No trace of the pilot or his aircraft have been seen since.

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RMw8 TIL when asked by a kidnapper to get out of the car, Princess Anne replied “Not bloody likely!”, before diving out of the far side.
gQ08 TIL that WWII fighter pilot James Howard won the medal of honor for single handedly taking on 30+ German fighter planes all by himself to protect a group of American bomber planes.
4kyjN TIL in 1912, the Detroit Tigers pulled random men off the street to face the reigning World Series champs after a strike. The pitcher was a priest with no pitching experience, the shortstop got on base only via walk, and an outfielder was a boxer who lost two teeth to a ground ball. They lost 24-2
XE85P TIL food industries were aggressively opposed to writing "insect-based" on ingredient labels even though many products we consume and buy are made with insects. The FDA and EU agreed to allow variations. So, now, when you see "carmine", "cochineal", "natural red 4", or "E120" - that also means bugs.
6EZXl TIL of the Social Gospel: an early 20th century Christian movement dedicated to unionization, homing everyone, feeding the poor, solving economic inequality, and social justice. They believed the second coming couldn't happen until humans solved these problems.