› added 11 years ago

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TIL that when he was thirty years old, Mark Twain wrote an illustrated children’s book called “Advice to Little Girls”. Lost and unknown for generations, it has been rediscovered. It is a charming and irreverent little book.

W7w7d TIL in 1967, Australia's prime minister vanished by swimming in the ocean and never coming back. Australians fondly named a swimming pool in his honour.
6Edxw TIL that Jet of Iada, a rescue dog, saved over 150 people from blitzed buildings during WWII. He died in 1949, after which a memorial to him was built near his grave. In 2016, a ceremony honoring Jet's birthday at the memorial was attended by his owner, Lilias Ward, who was 93 years old.
x6O7b TIL on November 12, 1970, officials with the Oregon Highway Patrol decided to remove an eight-ton beached sperm whale with fifty times more dynamite than a veteran suggested. The resulting explosion blew chunks of whale everywhere, one of which flattened the veteran's brand-new car.
OGV6 TIL that in the 60s, General Electric designed a system that could bring an astronaut from orbit to the Earth’s surface in an emergency. The system consisted of a plastic bag that would be filled with polyurethane foam, a small deorbit rocket, and a parachute. It could fit into a suitcase.
6EneQ TIL that the oldest person ever in the world was Jeanne Louise Calment, who was born on February 21, 1875 in Arles, France. She died on August 4, 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days old.