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TIL when Professor Robert Goddard proposed using rockets to send men to the moon the New York Times ran a scathing editorial questioning his credentials, his chair at Clark College and intelligence. In response to Apollo 11 they printed one of the most famous retractions in history.

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nWk0b TIL about anti-apartheid activist Ruth First. A Jewish South African communist who was assassinated in 1982 by a parcel bomb built by South African police while exiled in Mozambique. She crossed paths with Nelson Mandela after he involvement in the founding of the Federation of Progressive Students
4XkVg TIL that New Jersey received the first area code, 201, and D.C. received the second area code, 202, because the number 1 was not used office directories and the leading single pulse made by 1 was automatically ignored 1940s telephone equipment.
e0kg TIL that astronauts who live in space for extended periods of time are at risk for developing solipsism syndrome- “a psychological state in which a person feels that the world is not external to his or her mind.”
9YLVM TIL Since the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, the obesity rates in both Canada and Mexico have risen sharply due to a boost in consumption of high fructose corn syrup products imported from the US.
85QL TIL From 1994 to 2011, a person possessing just five5 grams of crack was considered a felon, while a person found with powdered cocaine would have to have 100 grams in their possession for a similar conviction.