› added 4 years ago

230

TIL that when Gemini XII's computer docking system failed, Buzz Aldrin calculated the docking trajectory using a slide-rule and a sextant.

Read more nasa.gov

via reddit.com

xVGMb TIL that Stephen Cobert donated his portrait to the Smithsonian Institution, which accepted it initially on loan, and displayed it between two bathrooms and above a water fountain at the National Portrait Gallery
LQkDd TIL despite being completely landlocked, the U.S. state of Nebraska offers the title of Nebraska Admiral as its highest honorary civic title. Originally the full title was "Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska". The honorary certificate even describes it in a tongue-and-cheek fashion.
nKK7 TIL scientists were monitoring whale stress levels by analyzing their poop and found that their stress plummeted sharply after the 9/11 attacks. After shipping traffic was halted, the oceans quieted down and made it easier for whales to communicate with each other
l0VA TIL there is a 30 meters wide rock standing out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean which was walked on by less than 20 people - almost as few as the moon.
eVZ6 TIL Oregon Trail pioneer Ezra Meeker (age 22) lived long enough to fly an airplane across the Trail (age 96)