› added 11 months ago

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TIL about Project Excalibur, a sub-program within the US's Strategic Defense Initiative that intended to provide defense against ballistic missiles in the most abysmal way imaginable: Anti-ICBM Nuke Blast X-Ray Laser Beams

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N7r6J TIL that in Japan, Valentine's Day is a day when girls buy chocolates and other gifts for boys they like. A month later, on March 14th, is called White Day. On that day, the boys will buy gifts to give back to the girls who bought them gifts on Valentine's Day.
nW6Jr TIL 28% of Millenials and Gen Z either agree or are unsure that the Earth is flat
MeygK Today I learned that the US government can’t negotiate drug prices because of a law making it illegal.
ZpAdY TIL In 1877 Jules Janssen used a special 5.5 inch solar telescope to take the first photos of the Sun showing granulation on its surface. Of the 6000 images made for his 1904 Solar Atlas, only seven survived
9wx9D TIL of a courtier, Jeffrey Hudson, in the court of King Charles I of England who was only 18 inches tall. He challenged a normal-height man to a duel with pistols over an insult. His opponent came to the duel armed with a water squirt gun. Hudson shot him in the head with a real gun, killing him.