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150

TIL the Founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, successfully evaded arrest for attempted murder by raising an army of 5,000 men after illegally declaring martial law, only to be convinced to return by supporters and subsequently murdered by a mob.

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Z8jJo TIL that until the mid-twentieth century, golf clubs were not numbered, but had wonderfully funny names: brassies, niblicks, baffies, mashies, jiggers, spoons, and cleeks.
EWEo TIL in 1955 the US designed a nuclear powered cruise missle. The SLAM’s unshielded reactor would sicken, injure, and/or kill living things beneath its flight path and its strategically selected crash site would receive intense radioactive contamination.
9kGm TIL between contemplating suicide and undergoing surgery with a 50% chance of death actor Christopher Reeves was interrupted by Robin Williams disguised as a doctor claiming he was to give Reeve’s an immediate rectal exam.
JGDk TIL the Columbian army had a pop singer record a song with Morse Code hidden in the chorus so their soldiers in FARC rebel camps would know to expect a rescue attempt. They knew the rebels listened to a particular radio station and they had the DJ play it repeatedly
oRrmK TIL NASA has an "Innovative Advanced Concepts" (NIAC) group that focuses on high risk/high reward technology projects where the general public can submit ideas to specific challenges for cash prizes (ie Deep Space Food Challenge for $1,000,000 total)