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TIL… When Alan Shepard was waiting for liftoff to become the first American in space, a reporter asked him what he was thinking about. He replied “The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.” [Fixed Title]

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b6Elp TIL Voltron was adapted from two unrelated shows, Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. GoLion forms the first half of the series while Dairugger forms the lesser known and lesser well regarded second half of the series.
69QoQ TIL about the only double barrel cannon in the world. When it was its first tested during the American Civil War, the chain snapped immediately and one ball tore into a nearby cabin, knocking down its chimney; the other spun off erratically and struck a nearby cow, killing it instantly.
XEWxR TIL of John Robert Dunn - a South African born Scotsman who became a Zulu chief and fathered 117 children with 48 zulu women and one mixed English-woman in the late 1800s.
pJvA TIL: In Kenya, homosexuality is a crime with 96% of Kenyans thinking it is unacceptable. Yet the second most popular search in the country was ‘gay monster cock’.
D1ZAV TIL of Fatal insomnia disease. A genetic mutation that 40 families are known to carry worldwide and can be random. When it starts you die within months to 1 year depending when you stop sleeping altogether. Life expectancy is 7 months to 6 years.