› added 11 years ago

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TIL that astronaut Alan Shepard’s pre-launch prayer before becoming the first American to reach orbit was “Don’t fuck up, Shepard…”

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Y5Bv TIL Braille was originally developed as ‘Sonography’, a means for French spies in the Napoleonic Wars to communicate without the use of light. Louis Braille would later point out the flaws in the original code, creating the version we use today.
16Vnr TIL There is an exotic species of roach, extinct in the wild, that still exists because insect lovers thought it looked cool. Scientists who discovered and collected the Simandoa conserfariam bred them in captivity for the pet trade after their habitat was destroyed by mining.
Oonjg TIL that US Military tombstones come with 65 choices of religious symbol, including the hammer of Thor
mBnE TIL that a Chinese man bought and raised two puppies, cared for them despite their frequent killing and eating of chickens, and then discovered they were bears.
Z8xkR TIL about Perpetual Stew, common in the middle ages, it was a stew that was kept constantly stewing in a pot and rarely emptied, just constantly replenished with whatever items they could throw in it.