› added 3 years ago

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TIL that in 1949, Gallup polled Americans on what scientific advances they thought would happen by the year 1999. 88% believed cancer would be cured, and 63% believed planes would be nuclear powered. Only 15% thought a man would walk on the moon.

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via reddit.com

G774 TIL that JK Rowling was turned down by 12 publishers and told to get a job before finaly finding a publisher for Harry Potter
epnmk TIL Electronic Arts was actively developing an open world RPG set in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth back in 2007 called The White Council, in the same vein as Bethesda's Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. The game was canceled though for unknown reasons after a year or so of development
Y76Kd TIL Orville Wright's final flight was in a plane whose wingspan exceeded the length of his original flight.
n5xr TIL 1,000 people wrote in to disagree with Marilyn von Savant’s (World’s Highest IQ) answer to the Monty Hall problem. And they were all wrong.
QvX6 TIL in 1968 big wave surfer Eddie Aikau was selected to be the first lifeguard at Waimea beach in Oahu. Not a single person died during his time as a lifeguard and he rescued over 500 people.