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TIL the US Gemini space capsule had to be redesigned because 14 of the 16 astronauts didn't fit in it. The original design relied so heavily on input from Mercury astronaut 'Gus' Grissom, who was 5' 6", that it was nicknamed the "Gusmobile."

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XEZm6 TIL that during a 1969 TV screening of the British Royal Family's life, more than 30 million people tuned in. During intermission, so many toilets were flushed simultaneously over England that it caused a water shortage.
9YDQD TIL There are only 23 words that date back 15,000 years and are considered the oldest known words in the English language. They are: thou, I, not, that, we, to give, who, this, what, man/male, ye, old, mother, to hear, hand, fire, to pull, black, to flow, bark, ashes, to spit, and worm.
xk15 TIL “disc” and “disk” are two distinct terms with different meanings (discs are optical media, disks are magnetic media)
l9k7 TIL that due to a clerical error, the state of Missouri assumed that a man named Mike Anderson was in prison, serving his 13-year sentence for armed robbery. It’s only when they began preparing for his release did they realise that law-enforcement had forgotten to take him to jail.
BgBly TIL that future British Prime Minister Anthony Eden carried a letter bomb in his suitcase for a whole day, thinking it was a Whitehall pamphlet that he would read later in the day. He only realized it was a bomb after being warned by the police, who were informed by MI5.