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TIL in 1920 The New York Times ridiculed the notion of rockets in space, calling it absurd, and criticized rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard as being less educated than a high school student. They issued a retraction in 1969 just days before Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon.

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mKnY TIL when American troops were asking ‘American’ trivial questions to flush out German infiltrators in WWII, that American brigadier general Bruce Clarke was held at gunpoint for five hours after he said the Chicago Cubs were in the American League
oBKv7 TIL that the No 2 most wanted student after Tiananmen Square protest, tried to turn himself in to the Chinese 4 times. The Chinese officials refused to arrest him, and he was even detained by the Japanese police when he tried to force his way into the Chinese Embassy in order to turn himself in.
Y1QG TIL: An early draft of Charlie and the Chocolate factory featured a sixth child, Miranda Piker, and she met her untimely demise when she was ground into powder by one of Willy Wonka’s candy machines after refusing to listen to him.
oR7GK TIL the 2024 Olympics in Paris will feature Breakdancing as an event
Gx6N TIL Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest religions still in existence today. It originates from Iranian tribes which lived in Central Asia around 4000 years ago. It was the official religion of Persia as well as of all other Iranian empires until the seventh century.