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152

TIL that the Mongols pulled their bowstrings back with their thumb. To prevent damage to their thumbs they created thumb rings.

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rNJL1 TIL The Little White schoolhouse built in 1853 in Ripon, Wisconsin, is the birthplace of the Republican Party. The first meeting was held on March 20, 1854 to fight against the spread of slavery. This meeting and another in Jackson, Michigan, on July 6 led to the formation of the Republican Party.
X0eKX TIL In 2018, 50 years after his Apollo 8 mission, astronaut Bill Anders ridiculed the idea of sending human missions to Mars, calling it "stupid". His former crewmate Frank Borman shares Ander's view, adding that putting colonies on Mars is "nonsense"
R5wJ6 TIL The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling tested parachutes as a part time job. The amount of money he earned depended on the danger of the jump. In one instance, he earned $1,000 for testing a jet ejection seat that had killed the previous three testers.
j6JE TIL A doctor was given an award for discovering a new cure for hiccups: digital rectal massage.
gMy08 TIL after a passenger airline was shot down after accidentally entering Soviet airspace, President Ronald Reagan decided to authorize the U.S. military’s satellite-based global positioning system (GPS) for civilian use in order to prevent similar tragedies.