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156

TIL George Orwell died the year after “1984” was published

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via reddit.com

Zp5Za TIL Newton tested the theory of gravitation involving the moon and Earth but found a discrepancy so large that he did not publish it. Six years later, a new measurement of the size of the Earth and distance of the moon came out and Newton recalculated again to show his theory worked
8aAVG TIL, Ball, the company everyone knows for making glass canning jars, has an aerospace division that built the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - the largest telescopic instrument ever sent beyond Earth’s orbit.
6oQZ TIL the earliest of all prehistoric whales was a three foot long, fifty pound, dog-like creature that lived entirely on land. Its lineage is a case study as an entirely terrestrial mammal evolving into an entirely aquatic lifestyle.
NBGN TIL that the Virginia Tech shooter’s mom sought out exorcisms for her son versus mental health treatment prior to the shootings (About 3 minutes in)
wL0y7 TIL about the Reign of Terror, in which Robespierre, Danton and the Committee of Public Safety sentenced multiple people to the guillotine. In 11 months, 16,594 were killed, including allies to the regime. Both ended up guillotined themselves.