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TIL that the first generations of spy satellites, "Corona" and "Zenith", took photographs, then ejected canisters of photographic film which would descend back down into Earth's atmosphere. Corona capsules were retrieved in mid-air as they floated down on parachutes.

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Ww7L TIL on Google News you can search and read old print newspapers, going as far back as 1752
R7Nk4 TIL that Anna, Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740, forced Prince Golitsyn to marry an unattractive maid. The couple had to spend their wedding night in an ice palace with icy beds, despite it being extremely cold. Eventually, the maid traded a necklace for a coat from a guard, and they survived.
KB0G TIL the reason the epidemic was called the “Spanish flu” is because neutral Spain had no wartime censorship during WWI. The press was free to report on outbreaks in Seville and Madrid, and on the illness of King Alfonso VIII. The first outbreak may have actually been in Kansas.
5YjN9 TIL in October 2017, comedian Michael Klimkowski, who bears an uncanny resemblance to televangelist Joel Osteen, was able to infiltrate an actual Joel Osteen event, posing with fooled attendees and even making it to the main stage before being found out by security.
nWWW9 TIL that in 1889 the US Congress created a committee with two members known as the "Committee on Disposition of Useless Executive Papers." Its job was to discard papers both members agreed weren't important and report why they weren't important. This later was replaced by the National Archives.