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TIL in 2009 Stephen Colbert won a NASA competition to have a module of the ISS named after him, but NASA opted to name it ‘Tranquility’ instead. They did, however, name a treadmill on the ISS after him. It is called the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (C.O.L.B.E.R.T.)

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ljd7 TIL of Félix Carbajal, a Cuban Olympic marathon runner in 1904, who ran in cut-off trousers, a long-sleeve shirt and a beret. He stopped to eat some apples, got stomach cramps, had a nap, then kept running, to place fourth. The winner, Thomas Hicks, used brandy and rat poison to assist his victory.
Me9xW TIL the largest flower garden in the world - nearly 18 acres containing more than 250M plants and yielding over 50M flowers - is located in Dubai. The hot desert climate requires the Dubai Miracle Garden to use over 750k liters of water per day sourced from the city's wastewater.
gMxV7 TIL of the Mary Celeste, an American merchant ship found adrift by the Dei Gratia, intact & crew missing, in the Atlantic off the Azores in 1872, a month after leaving port. Though amply supplied and personal belongings intact, there was no sign of where or why they left. The crew was never found.
a8M1A TIL Winston Churchill would attend Shakespeare plays and recite the lines along with the actors from the front row. Richard Burton, playing Hamlet at the Old Vic theatre, tried to shake Churchill by changing the speed of his delivery, but Churchill stayed with him the whole way.
WkoKN TIL: Upon seeing the flamethrower for the first time, Lewis "Chesty" Puller asked "Where the Hell do you put the bayonet?"