› added 10 years ago

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TIL standard evasive procedure for a surface-to-air-missile being directed at a SR-71 Blackbird, was for the plane to simply accelerate and outfly the missile.

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Vm1m TIL that the earliest piece of great literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh, includes a story in which Gilgamesh is told to build a ship to save the animals of the world from a “great flood”. Nearly 2,000 years later, a similar tale with different names appeared in the Bible’s book of Genesis.
d8k9Q TIL in 1746, a Swedish king tried to prove coffee was unhealthy by having one man drink large amounts of coffee and his identical twin drink the same amount of tea everyday for the rest of their lives. Both twins outlived the doctors in charge of the experiment and the king himself.
R59nj TIL that everyday about 100 Americans lose their lives on the road
D1X9J TIL about a house made from the tombstones of 2,200 soldiers
a8dXA TIL most receipts use toxic ink that gets absorbed through skin contact