› added 6 years ago

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TIL Hubert Latham was the first to attempt to fly a plane over the English Channel in 1909; he failed, but in doing so he became the first person to ever land a plane on water.

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loEl5 TIL that the "tires" on the Apollo lunar rovers were made of a woven mesh of zinc-coated piano wire with titanium treads to keep them from sinking into the lunar soil. The tracks they left are only 1/2" deep.
b99E0 TIL that the Roman Empire didn't fall until the year 1453. Whilst Rome fell in 476, the Eastern Roman Empire- also known as Byzantium- survived for another thousand years. This means that Joan of Arc, the Spanish Inquisition, and Glasgow University all existed at the same time as the Roman Empire.
oBeXo TIL that there is a village in India whose main export are men! This village prepares men to become bouncers for nightclubs and bars. They do so by having a 2 hour workout in the morning, followed by a 2 hour workout in the afternoon, in combination with high-protein food.
kOAOg TIL that the actors playing the rebel soldiers on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, were all members of the Norwegian Red Cross. For their participation in the film, George Lucas made a large donation to the organization
750P TIL that when the Nazis forced Jews to wear yellow stars during WW2, it backfired. Doing so increased sympathy for the Jews, who were (contrary to Nazi propaganda) obviously not responsible for how badly the war was going. People began tipping hats to Jews as a symbol of anti-German resistance.