› added 11 years ago

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TIL Bill Nye is the CEO of the Planetary Society, a non-profit originally founded in part by Carl Sagan to further space exploration

Read more planetary.org

via reddit.com

W714 TIL the former dog mascots of Texas A&M University are buried in a graveyard near the football stadium with their noses and paws pointed so towards the scoreboard. This way, “they can always watch the Aggies outscore their opponent on the field”. In addition, thousands show for their funerals.
d4Er TIL that pirates wore gold and silver earrings for superstitious reasons like not drowning or getting seasick, and curing bad eyesight. Also, the earrings’ worth covered the cost of a proper burial. They were also helpful to dangle pieces of wax from to use as ear plugs near cannons.
b9Akp TIL, A Soviet dog called Strelka was the first to go to space and come back alive. She had 6 puppies and Nikita Khrushchev gifted one of them to JFK. (It was checked for listening devices first).
OoOla TIL that Christian self-help author John Eldredge's book "Wild at Heart" is required reading for the La Familia drug cartel.
xA5o TIL That people with “Morton’s toe” (correct term: Morton’s Foot Syndrome) actually have a shortened first metatarsal behind the big toe rather than an extra elongated one in the second toe.