› added 5 years ago

190

TIL In 2008, NASA beamed a song - The Beatles' "Across the Universe" - directly into deep space. The transmission was aimed at the North Star, Polaris, which is located 431 light years away from Earth. The song will travel across the universe at a speed of 186,000 miles per second.

Read more nasa.gov

via reddit.com

KOOx6 TIL in 1968, Veterans Day was originally changed to the fourth Monday in October by President LBJ. It was changed back to November 11 in 1975 by President Gerald Ford.
KYgN9 TIL That firearms manufacturer Beretta commissioned a custom Model 92 handgun called the Diamond Beretta. With almost 1200 gemstones embedded in the grip the handgun, which is stored in the Beretta museum, has an estimated value of over $300 000 USD.
JYOB1 TIL of The Golden Age of Porn (1969.-1984.), when pornografic movies were regurarly shown in mainstream cinemas, had high production value and were dicussed by distinguished film critics, including Roger Ebert
D1KdY TIL the Second Congo War (1998-2003), relatively recent but almost unknown about in the West, has the worst death toll of any one conflict since the Second World War. 350,000 violent deaths, but the conflict is considered responsible for the deaths between 2,500,000 and 5,400,000 people.
Vmlp TIL a man cut off his own penis because he was tired of being single. He immediately regretted the decision and rushed to the hospital to have it reattached. Unfortunately, he forgot his penis at home.