› added 3 months ago

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TIL none of the one thousand buildings on five continents that were built with Chuck Feeney's $2.7 billion in donations bear his name.

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XyRr TIL in 1960 the Mercury-Redstone 1 rocket blasted off and reached an apogee (height) of 4 inches. The rocket also settled back on the launch pad, undamaged, without tipping over.
olP7 TIL: Later in his life, Voltaire developed the habit of living near borders so he could more easily escape the authorities if his writings angered them
BrRxe TIL about Hercules, the largest living (non-obese) cat in the world. He's a liger, 900 pounds and 12 feet tall when he stands on his hind legs.
J1dG1 TIL Nixon and Kissinger funded the kidnapping/assassination of a Chilean General who wanted to prevent civil war. CIA provided one of the conspirators with a life-insurance policy and “hush money”, while another received guns, ammunition and $50,000 in cash to carry out the plot.
DQgVJ TIL composer Philip Glass and "This American Life" host Ira Glass are cousins