› added 7 months ago

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TIL that the Apollo 11 astronauts had to fill out customs forms when they returned to Earth, including declaring "moon rock and dust samples" as items they were bringing into the country.

Read more nasa.gov

via reddit.com

N7XGM TIL in 2007, producers for ABC's Extreme Makeover coaxed a contestant's family into making hurtful comments about her ugliness, then cut the contestant from the show because the recovery period wouldn't fit their production schedule. The contestant's sister killed herself four months later.
xV4eB TIL that LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado was the last steam locomotive built by British Railways. It is the only surviving example of an LNER Peppercorn Class A1 locomotive in existence. Construction began in 1994 and was completed in 2008.
KYgN9 TIL That firearms manufacturer Beretta commissioned a custom Model 92 handgun called the Diamond Beretta. With almost 1200 gemstones embedded in the grip the handgun, which is stored in the Beretta museum, has an estimated value of over $300 000 USD.
epDQL TIL that during World War 2, aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and general Charles De Gaulle despised each other, causing his works to be banned in both Free France and Vichy France. As a result, The Little Prince was first published in the United States, and only was published in France after WW2.
nKbP TIL that during the OJ Simpson verdict broadcast “Long-distance telephone call volume declined by 58% and trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange by 41%, water usage decreased as people avoided using bathrooms … the verdict cost an estimated $480 million in lost productivity.”