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TIL about the Sprint Missile. Which when shot from its launch tube accelerated at 100g and reached Mach 10 in only 5 seconds. The friction from the air was so intense it generated plasma around itself, with the capability of reaching up to 19 miles in a mere 15 seconds.

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X8jE TIL that The Catholic Church who formerly denied Heliocentrism, today has its own observatory located just outside Rome. The observatory is fully supported by the Holy See and its staff double as research scientists and Jesuit brothers.
QJApp TIL a Chinese woman was bitten by a Pit viper 3 months after stuffing the snake into a bottle of wine, in order to make a traditional Chinese medicine called Snake Wine. She opened the bottle to drink some after suffering from joint pain, the snake escaped, biting her in the process.
WklPL TIL the first adopters of the bicycle in China were the prostitutes ('sing-song girls'). The bicycle was seen as undignified and far too menial, the prostitutes working the harbors had nothing to lose, so they were the first adopters.
v1oxr TIL the actor who played George Mcfly rejected the role for Part II of the series because of the script. Jeffery Weissman was hired and using a face mold made in the first movie and prosthetics were able to recreate the original actors likeness resulting in a law suit against the company.
Y8bv TIL a Harvard Researcher found rolling a pair of dice was as predictive of your future income as your college GPA is.