› added 3 years ago

211

TIL that in the 1960s the CIA paid climbers to put nuclear powered spy devices in the Himalayas to monitor Chinese nuclear weapons tests. Some of the devices were left unattended and were subsequently lost.

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JJv4 TIL Bill Watterson, the author of the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbs, refused to merchandise his creations on the grounds that displaying Calvin and Hobbes images on commercially sold mugs, stickers and T-shirts would devalue the characters and their personalities.
dD0AQ TIL that there is a type of octopus, an argonaut, where the male fills its sex organ with sperm, then rips it off and presents it to a female.
jNdQn TIL the Theremin was invented by a Soviet scientist when he added a sonic element to his gas density analyzer. It is the only musical instrument that is played without touching it.
8a9aV TIL that actress Olivia de Havilland, who got her first Oscar nomination in 1939 for her role in Gone With the Wind (at age 23), is still alive. She's 103.
PYJjV TIL about the Geoduck. It's not a pokemon! It's a clam that looks like... well...