› added 12 years ago

80

TIL That Lockheed Martin test pilots carry the wallets and car keys of the chief aircraft engineers as a sign of good faith.

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7rnxX TIL we are currently living in an era called "The Long Peace", a period of peace which has not been seen since the Roman Empire. There are now less than 10 reported deaths per million each year due to war.
v1Ljx TIL Helen Keller took over the controls of a Douglas Skymaster airplane for 20 minutes while flying over the Mediterranean during a trip from Rome to Paris. The instructions were relayed from the pilot to Polly Thompson, and then to Helen through fingerspelling.
E1KXp TIL the ‘Balloon Man’ had constipation since he was 2 and died with over 40lbs of feces in his colon. It’s 8ft long and currently preserved at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia
J1YVm TIL of the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment, who were Sherman's personal escort on his March to the Sea. They were a unit comprised entirely of Southerners who remained loyal to the Union.
wLxYM Today I learned that the original eraser was stale bread and erasers are pink because of pumice: Guide to Erasers