› added 10 years ago

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TIL in 1973, a Libyan passenger jet having navigational problems wandered into Israeli airspace. When 2 Israeli F-4s intercepted the jet and instructed the crew to land, they refused because of bad Libyan-Israeli relations at the time. The jet was then shot down, killing 108 people.

oBwOR TIL about fasciation, where instead of growing around a single point, a plant grows elongated
PYK9J TIL about Hemigrapsus estellinensis, an extinct species of crab that lived solely in a small saltwater spring in the Texas panhandle, 500 miles from the ocean. Probably a relic of the Pleistocene Era, the species was wiped out when the U.S. Army built a dike around the spring in 1964.
wG0Y TIL: Frank Zamboni and his brother Lawrence owned and operated a block ice business, but with the advent of the electric refrigerator, they knew their days were numbered. They opened an ice rink instead, which led to Frank’s invention of a machine for resurfacing the ice
pL7A TIL the only photographs showing the moment Robert Kennedy was shot were not used in court but sealed for twenty years. When the photographer asked to have them back he was told they were accidently burned. Reappearing after a lawsuit they were then stolen from the courier transporting them.
XE0LD TIL about the China National Highway 110 traffic jam; a massive traffic jam that slowed down thousands of vehicles for more than 100 km and lasted for more than 10 days. Drivers were able to move their vehicles only 1 km per day and some drivers were stuck in the traffic jam for 5 days.