› added 8 years ago

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TIL: Charles Goodyear, credited with the invention of vulcanized rubber, did not found the Goodyear Tire Company.

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WdY8 TIL that in 1999, a woman survived a 14,500 foot fall after her parachute didn’t deploy while skydiving. She landed on a mound of fire ants and was stung several hundred times, giving her an adrenaline rush to keep her heart beating.
1YO8 TIL that because Boeing expected supersonic passenger airliners to render the 747 and other subsonic airliners obsolete, they designed the 747 with a hump to allow the aircraft to be easily converted for cargo by installing a front cargo door below the flight deck.
7rGJM TIL that child auctions were commonplace in Finland and Sweden up until the mid 1930's. The children involved were orphans or from extremely poor backgrounds and were sold to the lowest bidder. The children were provided with a home and education but were also expected to work in return.
7glP TIL Stalin’s real last name was Dzhugashvili. Stalin is Russian for Man of Steel.
pXGG TIL inside NASA’s Juno probe, it has a plaque dedicated to Galileo with writing in his own hand, and 3 Lego mini figures (Galileo, the Roman god Jupiter, and his sister and wife, the goddess Juno) specially made by the Lego Company using aluminum.