› added 11 months ago

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TIL that in 1962, Operation Stargazer used a 12-1/2-inch reflecting telescope mounted on a high-altitude balloon, featuring gyroscopic stabilizing gear developed by MIT. This was the first mission to employ such technology for more accurate observations from the upper atmosphere.

Read more airandspace.si.edu

via reddit.com

69gYm TIL in an actual case of dying of laughter, 56-year-old Danish audiologist named Ole Bentzen laughed himself to death watching A Fish Called Wanda
jNpNR TIL about 'Botanical Sexism', a process by which urban landscapers, in an effort to keep streets clear of seeds & flowers, plant only male trees. The male trees lack the seeds of their female counterparts & as the trees get bigger, their pollen counts increases which can worsen seasonal allergies.
RB19 TIL The United States currently has 19 commissioned aircraft carriers. The rest of the world combined also has 19 commissioned aircraft carriers.
VBkA8 TIL of Georg Elser who spent a year planning the elaborate assassination of Hitler by hollowing out a pillar in a hall where he would speak and filling it with time bombs. Hitler left 13 minutes before the bombs went off; his flight was cancelled due to fog, so he started early to get a train.
9wARr TIL of Marcus McDilda - a P-51 Mustang pilot shot down over Japan two days after the first atomic bombing. Tortured by the Japanese to learn U.S. atomic bomb capabilities, he told his captors the U.S. had 100 atomic bombs that would be dropped on Tokyo and Kyoto within "the next few days."