› added 4 years ago

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TIL the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird set the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft in 1976 at 3,529 km/h (2,193 mph), a record which still hasn't been broken in 44 years

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9YlNB TIL Rugrats, Doug, and Ren & Stimpy all debuted on the same day (11 Aug 1991)
d8o88 TIL that that the average ball point pen can write for 900m, BIC (cristal) pens have 2.5km of ink and Selter pens have 4-5km. There is also the Fisher Infinium pen that supposedly will not run out in your life time.
PY9aO TIL at the end of the 17th century in an attempt to modernize society, Russian Emperor Peter the Great taxed any men who didn't shave their beard. Those that paid the tax carried around a copper or bronze token as proof they had paid.
JY95v TIL that there's a name dispute over whether it's appropriate to refer to Ireland and Britain as the "British Isles". Alternatives include IONA or Islands Of the North Atlantic, the Pretanic Isles after their ancient Greek name, and the St. Agnes Isles after the smallest island in the archipelago.
e0lPb TIL - Disney banned balloons and plastic drinking straws in their Animal Kingdom Park to protect the animals from accidental ingestion.