› added 12 years ago

153

TIL that in case of emergency, NASA evacuates the launchpad towers…via zip lines.

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via reddit.com

E1ZrX TIL on it's last flight one SR-71 Blackbird broke four world speed records. The trip from L.A. to D.C. was completed in a cool 64 minutes 20 seconds. The plane landed at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and has never flown again.
7yRb TIL that China blocked search engine results for “tomorrow”, “yesterday” and “today” during the anniversary of Tiananmen Square
kLBm TIL Van Gogh didn’t cut off his own ear; he made up that story to protect his friend, who cut it off with a sword during a heated argument.
R7eK4 TIL An American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse in 1995, Artax, was named after the fictional horse from The Neverending Story. Artax equaled or broke three track records during the 1999 racing season when he won the Breeder's Cup Sprint, Carter Handicap and Forest Hills Handicap.
bW14 TIL that the Gambia is such a weird shape because the French realised that they could not maintain a hold on any land which was within range of the cannons on gunboats in the Gambia river, and so ceded all such land to the British.