› added 9 years ago

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TIL in 1986 NASA asked Big Bird to enter into a space mission to encourage kids to get interested in space. The big bird suit was too big for the spacecraft meaning he could not fly, the spacecraft that he was meant to be on exploded as it was taking off.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

QRL TIL there is a lake that drains into both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
pAVe TIL that in New York City, when homeless people or those with no money die, they are buried by prisoners on Hart Island in a mass grave: up to 1000 per grave for children and 50 for adults.
xgYg TIL when Facebook users voted for Taylor Swift to perform at a school for deaf students as a prank, the school was removed from the contest, but Swift donated $10K to the school, 4 companies matched her donation, VH1 gave $10k in instruments, & Swift gave the students tickets to her Boston concert.
L7dQ TIL during mating season, male Dawson’s bees try to bite each other to death in a frenzy, resulting in “whole generations of male bees wiping each other out” & in 1 male emerging to mate with the female. Dawson’s bees communities are harmonious for most of the year because all the males are dead.
J18ZQ TIL that the movie Airplane was a parody of a 1957 movie called Zero Hour