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TIL in 1981 a man named Roger Fischer had an idea for a volunteer to have ICBM launch codes put in their chest cavity. In the event of an emergency, the volunteer would carry a knife to be killed with. It was meant to force the personal killing of one man to start the impersonal killing of millions.

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0wr0v TIL about the American civil religion- a sociological theory that a quasi-religious faith exists within the U.S, with sacred symbols drawn from national history. Examples of this include the veneration of Washington and Lincoln, war martyrs, and the belief of America being a beacon of righteousness.
7D1Z TIL The Greater Spotted Cuckoo is parasitic and lays its eggs in other bird’s nests. It later pays “mafia visits” to make sure the eggs are cared for properly. If not, it attacks the surrogate mother’s chicks and eggs, even breaking her legs.
jXxj TIL a gravitational slingshot (of say a space probe) robs the host planet of a very small amount of orbital velocity. Do it enough times and you’d cause said planet to crash into the Sun.
9lr7 TIL NASA Managers claimed that there was a 1 in 100,000 chance of a catastrophic failure aboard Challenger, but Richard Feynman discovered that NASA’s Engineers estimated the chance of a catastrophe at closer to 1 in 200.
neAAY TIL that when Lafayette visited America in 1824, he and Thomas Jefferson collapsed in each other's arms and cried upon their reunion. They had not seen each other since 1789. Jefferson had to have somebody else read the speech he prepared because he was so emotional that his voice was too weak.