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TIL Richard Branson started Virgin Air by putting up a sign when his plane was cancelled, selling tickets. He used the money raised from the tickets to rent an airplane.

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5VD1B TIL: In December 2024, a single mutation known as Q226L was found to enhance the ability of H5N1 ('bird flu') to infect human cells, particularly in the respiratory tract. Previously, at least three mutations were thought to be required for the virus to infect people and spread between them.
R5Nwa TIL on October 11, 1992, Deion Sanders played in a Falcons game in Miami (NFL) and then flew to Pittsburgh to play in the Braves’ League Championship Series game against the Pirates that evening (MLB), becoming the first athlete to play in two professional leagues in the same day.
X0YBr TIL that Bryan Cranston's father, Joseph Cranston, abandoned the family during Bryan's youth after being unable to get enough acting jobs to support them. They would not meet for another 11 years. In 1988, Bryan would star in 'The Big Turnaround' which was directed by his very own father Joseph
QNr9X TIL about the oddly-named "Doomsday Rule" which can (with practice) be used to calculate the weekday of a target date based on the fact that certain days (4/4, 5/9, 6/6...) in any given year all fall on the same day of the week.
DQKdD TIL The US National Solar Observatory requires a swimming pool’s worth of ice to be added each night into its tanks so coolant can be distributed through the observatory. The heat is intense enough to rapidly melt metal at the telescope mirror’s focal point