› added 7 years ago

738

TIL that the world almost came to an end in 1983 when a malfunctioning Soviet satellite falsely reported multiple launches of American ICBMs to a Russian bunker. Citing a “funny feeling in my gut,” the bunker commander directly disobeyed military protocol by not ordering retaliatory strikes

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nWE4r TIL with a "Constant Acceleration" space ship, at 1G acceleration you could travel the diameter of the milky way (105,000 Light years) in a short 12 years.
8aP08 TIL that having an ancestor that caught the plague and survived could result in their descendants being immune to the HIV virus
rymy TIL the first time “Instant Replay” was used was in the 1960 winter olympics. In the men’s slalom event, officials who were unsure if a skier had missed a gate asked CBS if they could review tape of the event. This request gave CBS the idea for what is now known as instant replay.
epDQg TIL The world standard telescope for Sun monitoring is set by a 2.4" refracting telescope at the Zurich Observatory in Switzerland. Anything larger will reveal too many sunspots that will skew the actual total
LkRmd TIL Coca-Cola in the Maldives is made from seawater