› added 2 weeks ago

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TIL of the "Variable-Incidence" wing solution to increase angle of attack during take-off and landing without hindering pilot visibility of the runway. It works by moving the entire wing up/down like one was shrugging their shoulders. The F-8 "Crusader" from the late 50s is an iconic example.

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mxQjx TIL that due to a series of clergical clerical errors, there has never been a Pope John XX, even though there have been 21 legitimate popes who took the name John (the 21st of which was Pope John XXIII)
nEBr TIL that when a dignitary complained to President Theodore Roosevelt about Alice Roosevelt (his daughter) smoking on top of the White House, Roosevelt replied, “I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.”
e0JZE TIL European demand for wildly popular sugar sweetened beverages fueled the slave trade of the 18th century colonial economy.
X0aR TIL Nelson Mandela was on the US terror watch list until 2008
YpZ6x TIL I learned that a handicapped woman invented an underwater wheelchair in 2012 as an art project and it works so well that able-bodied divers have trouble keeping up.