› added 12 years ago

91

TIL The first American in space, Alan Shepard, said “Don’t fuck up, Shepard” before launch. This is now known among aviators as Shepard’s prayer

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lZNr TIL: Due to the detonation of atomic bombs, everything on Earth was marked by a unique carbon signature. It can measure the date of anything from wine to human tissue.
m1ro TIL that in 2009 a California police officer meant to use her taser on an unruly man in the back seat of her cruiser, but accidentally drew her gun. She shot the guy in the chest and killed him.
p8W68 TIL that a man, Tommie Woodward, was killed by an alligator after yelling "Fuck that alligator" and jumping into the water nearby. Woodward, who was drinking in an outdoor bar, had been warned not to enter the water because of the beast. There were also signs that warned of alligator attacks.
0A9R TIL a study was released in 2007 which emphasized that Generation X’s men made less (by 12%) than their fathers had at that same age in 1974, thus reversing a historical trend.
j61nv TIL: Gin and Tonic glows in the dark because tonic water contains quinine, which absorbs ultraviolet light and re-emits it as visible light.