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TIL that Leonardo Da Vinci invented ball bearings - a friction-reducing part without which no modern machinery would be possible

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X0prk TIL in 1973, a Harvard astrophysicist suggested that we won't discover more advanced civilizations because they don't want us to find them and have the technology to ensure we never do. They have also set aside our planet as a zoo wherein they can observe us. He coined this idea the Zoo Hypothesis.
5YYyR TIL that there are only 5 people left who are relatives from hitler. 3 of whom chose not to have kids or get married to kill off the bloodline.
4kRvR TIL In 1988 Ivan McGuire, an experienced skydiver with 800 recorded dives jumped from the plane for his 3rd dive that day. He had his camera rig with him but completely forgot to equip a parachute rig, thus he jumped to his death from 10.000 feet. The camera footage of the fatal fall survived
O0d4 TIL that regular coffee drinkers have a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other health problems due to an unidentified component interacting with the caffeine.
pg4N TIL that after the publication of 1984, George Orwell sent a copy to his high school French teacher, Aldous Huxley, who responded with a letter commending the book and contrasting it with his own Brave New World.