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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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via reddit.com

0wm6p TIL Chimney Swifts are among the most aerial and high-flying of all birds. These birds eat, drink, mate, and even sleep on the wing, but they alight to raise young.Their diet is mostly aerial plankton consisting of minute insects and newborn spiders. Pilots have reported seeing them at 7300 ft high.
8al6X TIL National Lampoon magazine had a front cover featuring a dog with a gun to its head, saying “if you don’t buy this magazine, we’ll kill this dog”. Three years later, somebody tracked the dog down and killed it. The dog was named Cheeseface.
neB09 TIL The day that "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" premiered, there was an op-ed in the New York Times titled "O'Brien flops" that said "one can't help but have grave doubts about his prospects". The op-ed was written by Conan O'Brien himself.
gr18W TIL about the Vasovagal Syncope, a sudden loss or near loss of consciousness caused by an emotional or environmental trigger such as the sight of blood or needles
R50Lj TIL that the extreme lifelong behavioral problems of Nancy Spungen (gf of Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols) are thought to be caused by brain damage via birth asphyxia from umbilical cord wrapped around her neck