› added 6 years ago

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TIL about Russia's "spacecraft graveyard" in the Altai region, where over 2,500 tons of space debris -- some dozens of feet long -- have rained down since the start of the Space Age. As new space junk falls, locals rush to raid the wreckage for precious metals they can sell.

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166ld TIL about the Baghdad Batteries. In 1938 twelve jars with copper cylinders and iron rods were found in Iraq. The jars when combined with grape juice produce approximately 1 volt of electricity. It is hypothesized these were the first batteries ever created, over two thousand years ago.
46K6 TIL Donated Bibles were sent to Romania and subsequently pulped into TP because there was a toilet paper shortage.
69M8m TIL in 1857, before Minnesota became a state, there was a bill passing through the territorial legislature to move capital from St. Paul to St. Peter. Chairman of the Enrolled Bills committee Joseph Rolette took the bill and disappeared with it, preventing it from reaching the governor's desk.
pvjZ TIL after the Australian 1 and 2 cent coins were phased out in late 1991, they were melted down and used in the Sydney 2000 Olympics as Bronze Medals.
a0MN TIL a woman named Irena Sendler worked as a plumber in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII, and saved over 2,500 Jewish children, smuggling many of them out in her tool box. She was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize; and lost to Al Gore.