› added 4 years ago

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TIL that "Solar Sails" were first proposed by Kepler in 1608 “Provide ships or sails adapted to the heavenly breezes, and there will be some who will brave even that void.” Carl Sagan inspired Bill Nye to pursue Solar Sails in the 1980s, and the crowdfunded LightSail 2 is now in orbit around Earth.

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via reddit.com

KOK4J TIL Jon Cryer hasn't spoke to Charlie Sheen in years but is still friends with Ashton Kutcher
OLPY TIL 60% of apps in the Apple App Store have never ever been downloaded
wZ61 TIL there has been more human casualties in the Mexican Narcotics wars than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
mxk9E TIL that Queen Anne of England was pregnant 17 times. The first time at the age of eighteen, and the last at the age of thirty-four. She either miscarried or gave birth to stillborn babies. One child died under a year, another at a year and a half, and the oldest died at the age of eleven in 1700.
xDvk TIL in 1961, the captain of a ship named “Bluebelle” killed all its passengers except a young girl who he left for dead in the ship he scuttled, the girl was able to escape and drifted for four days on sea before rescued, the captain later committed suicide upon learning of her survival.