› added 7 years ago

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TIL that the "You eat X spiders in your sleep per year" myth was made up for an article about how false facts spread in the Internet.

Read more snopes.com

via reddit.com

KOxZ9 TIL that the Soviet Union built their own Space Shuttle in secret. In November of 1988, they revealed and launched The Buran for it’s one and only flight successfully. Unlike the US Space Shuttles, this space craft was fully autonomous, had ejection seats, and was able to carry 30 tons.
LkYy9 TIL about the Bard Prison Initiative, a program providing college education to inmates across various prisons in NY. Nationally, ~80% of inmates will return to prison within 9 years of release. BPI graduates have a recidivism rate of only 4%.
J1XR1 TIL George Lucas originally envisioned Indiana Jones as a nightclub going womanizer. But his writing partner nixed that and suggested making the Ark of the Covenant as the goal of Indiana's quest as his hematologist told him about it. Spielberg agreed to direct only after losing out on James Bond.
Wl8B TIL an orangutan named Pony was used as a sex slave in a village in Borneo. She would automatically ‘assume the position’ whenever a man neared her. It took over a year for authorities to free her because she was a favorite of the locals who fought against her release.
QJWVk TIL that ski resorts were openly hostile to snowboarding in the early years of the sport, leading many places to ban snowboarding entirely.