› added 11 years ago

287

TIL Blackbeard was only an active pirate for two years

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GAAK7 TIL That Heron of Alexandria created a mechanism that would automatically open the doors of a temple in the 1st-century BC
GAnjE TIL Rifleman Khan was a German Shepherd dog awarded the Dickin medal in WW2 for saving his handler from drowning after their landing craft was sunk by artillery fire
R5lD8 TIL Philip K. Dick — who wrote the novels/stories behind Minority Report, The Man in the High Castle, Total Recall, etc. — died just 4 months before the release of Blade Runner.
yVLyp TIL that the concept of curvature in space-time giving rise to matter and gravitation was predicted in 1870 by William Kingdon Clifford (although not rigorously proving it like Einstein managed)
Br7ob TIL of Lisa McVey, the only girl to escape serial killer Bobby Long. She was 17 when he abducted her & she was going home to commit suicide. Long held her hostage for 26 hours. Using her wit, she managed to escape & the ordeal made her realize her desire to live. She’s now a police officer.