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TIL about the Soviet 'Dead Hand' system — an automated doomsday mechanism designed to launch nuclear retaliation strikes without human intervention after detecting incoming missiles

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via reddit.com

W7vAL TIL in February of 2013 the Emergency Alert Systems of stations in Montana and Michigan were breached to play a zombie apocalypse warning, using the lines "Civil authorities in your area have reported bodies of the dead are rising from the graves and attacking the living".
OoZdY TIL about the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special - which only aired once - included a singing debut from Princess Leia, Chewie's wife Malla and family, Bea Arthur as a singing cantina bartender, and a loose plot with the crew trying to get home for Life Day
VMrj8 TIL: Evapotranspiration or "corn sweat" can contribute to humidity. When it's already hot, push water out through tiny holes in their leaves called stomata. The water evaporates into gas. Full fields, especially where there are many fields of corn, can actually raise the dew point.
Bg4JK TIL Clever Hans, a horse, who performed various mathematical, musical, and language tasks, like arithmetic operations, telling the time, differentiating between musical tones, and understanding and spelling German. He is thought to have been eaten by hungry soldiers in WW1 after being drafted.
XEexP TIL During an interview Marlon Brando was asked "Don't you realize you're thought of as the greatest actor ever?". Brando turned to his dog Tim and replied "Tim is the greatest actor ever. He pretends he loves me when he wants something to eat"