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TIL that the theory of gravitationally-assisted space travel - which enabled NASA’s Voyager and other missions to explore the solar system - was invented by a summer intern at JPL in 1961. He and his revolutionary idea were initially ignored, and he was not offered a job at JPL or NASA.

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N7omb TIL that the first person of color to ever be vice president of the United States was Charles Curtis, VP to Herbert Hoover who was of American Indian tribal citizenship
R7Jw7 TIL that brain scans show people who identify as conservatives have larger right amygdalae. The right amygdala is typically associated with negative emotions such as fear.
VMRrk TIL that the first attempt to make an accurate world map was by an astrologer (Claudius Ptolemy, second century CE) so that he could chart the relationship between the person's birthplace and the heavenly bodies. While doing so, he coined the term "geography"
VMnw4 TIL: The term Blitzkrieg was mostly adopted by western journalists and never used by the Wehrmacht as an official military term. Hitler called it 'A completely idiotic word' and some senior officers even disputed the idea that it was a military concept.
66Ym TIL of an experiment on the NY subway where seated passengers were asked “Excuse me, may I please have your seat?” 56% of them moved