› added 4 years ago

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TIL that in February 1970, an amateur photographer was taking photos around an airport in Sydney, Australia. It was only after the film was developed that he realized he captured a stowaway's final moments as he fell out of the wheel well of a plane taking off and fell 56 meters to his death.

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via reddit.com

DQP6j TIL that in 2003 Akshinthala Babu stood completely still for 30 hours, breaking the world record for standing the longest without moving. A record William A. Fuqua has held 5 times, totaling more than 36 hours of standing in his records.
a8MW0 TIL Pedongi, an Indian Army Service Corps mule, was captured by Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. She later defected back to Indian lines with a Pakistani MMG and two boxes of ammo and was later awarded Vir Chakra, India's third highest military award.
wLyb1 TIL in 1992 when a container of yellow rubber ducks, fell into the Pacific Ocean, it allowed scientists to gain insight into a hidden world of ocean currents. Over the years, the ducks washed up on several different continents, revealing a worldwide network of currents, that had been invisible.
OGkdR TIL that a neutron star can have a mass similar to our Sun but be only about 30 km across. One such neutron star spins at an incredible 43,000 rpm, rotating 716 times each second. This makes it one of the fastest-spinning objects in the universe.
Y7Gy7 TIL the word "partridge" probably comes from ancient Greek "pérdomai", a word meaning "to fart".