› added 8 years ago

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TIL the FIFA World Cup trophy is worth nearly $20 million, far more than any other pro-sports trophy. It is made of 6kg (13.5lb) of solid 18k gold. Winning teams are only given a gold-plated replica, the original stays in Zurich.

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5YMjR TIL Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell took home a 16 mm camera from the Lunar Module that would have otherwise been destroyed. Mitchell tried to auction the camera to help medical treatments for his son who had cancer before he agreed to relinquish the camera by donating it to the Smithsonian
4vbw TIL that the entire Pink Floyd Album “Wish you were here” was written in tribute to Lead Singer and Song writer Syd Barrett after he departed the band due to “declining mental health”
XE6gE TIL Hu Yaobang, whose funeral triggered the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, wanted to have Tibetans and Uyghurs govern themselves, supported improved Sino-Japanese relations, investigated party nepotism/corruption, and was forced to resign as General Secretary for not silencing student protests
16gR7 TIL that in Medieval Europe, the Feast of the Ass on 14 January celebrated the donkey that carried Mary into Egypt after the birth of Jesus.
wpPE TIL Thomas Edison invented the Electric Pen to copy office documents, which was a commercial Flop. 15 years later Samuel O'Reilly discovered that Edison’s machine could be modified and used to introduce ink into the skin, and later patented a tube and needle system to provide an ink reservoir.