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TIL the Pony Express existed for only 18 months

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16a74 TIL of Stephan Bibrowski, better known as Lionel the lion-faced man due to the 8 inch long hair that covered his entire face. Stephan's mother gave him away at the age of 4 as she had witnessed a lion mauling her husband while she was pregnant with Stephan, and thus viewed him as an abomination.
R7DM4 TIL that within the animal kingdom, only higher primates (including humans) and guinea pigs are unable to synthesize Vitamin C in their own bodies, thus putting them at risk of scurvy
vPa6K TIL that just before Laika went into space, one of the scientists using her for testing brought her home to play with his children. Knowing that she would not survive her journey
ADLV4 TIL Alexei Leonov, the first man to perform a spacewalk, almost wasn't able to get back in the capsule as his suit had expanded in the vacuum of space. Many problems plagued the mission including a poor landing 240mi off course forcing the 2 man crew to survive for 2 days in the freezing wilderness.
YnyP TIL that a 13 year old was traded to U.S. forces for $10 and then held at Guantanamo Bay for over a year.