› added 6 years ago

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TIL of Narcisse Pelletier, a French cabin boy who was abandoned by his ship’s crew in north-east Australia in 1858. He was rescued by an Aboriginal family and went on to live with the Uutaalnganu people for the next 17 years until he was kidnapped by an English crew and returned to France in 1875.

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nWKP9 TIL - Blind people who regain sight after years struggle to recognize objects because vision is learned, not automatic. They need to train their brain to actually see.
awYJN TIL while Michael Collins was orbiting the moon, mission control warned of a problem with the shuttle's coolant system. Instead of fixing the problem manually as advised, he flicked the system's switch from auto to manual, then back to auto, and carried on with other chores. The issue self resolved.
e5ab TIL The Apollo space suits were made by the bra company Playtex. After years of failures, they threw together a design in just 6 weeks and beat the aerospace companies. This was because one competitor’s design couldn’t fit through the door, and the other competitor had its suit helmet explode.
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