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244

TIL a F-15 took down a satellite.

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J1RpQ TIL Before Canada was officially named Canada, other names had been suggested but rejected. Some examples: Albertsland, Borealia, Britannia, Tuponia and others. The current name likely comes from the aboriginal word "Kanata" which means village or settlement.
px1Z TIL in 1987, North Korea brought down a South Korean jet on its way to Seoul from Baghdad. NK’s agent was posing as a Japanese national, having been taught Japanese language and customs for 3 years by a Japanese woman who was abducted from her home in Northern Japan
BrQYD TIL JRR Tolkien was a supporter of the constructed language Esperanto, believing it could help unite Europe after World War I. He also created new languages like Elvish, calling it his "secret vice", and explained that for him the purpose was aesthetic rather than pragmatic
xVnoB TIL that this month, this year is the 2500tg anniversary of the Battle of Thermopylae, when King Leonidas famously led his 300 Spartans against the Persian King Xerxes’ forces of around 300,000
l7NL1 TIL that in 1919 Pacific Improvement Company was looking to attract more people to their coastal developments. 29 year old Samuel Morse pitched the idea of a coastal golf course, and they agreed. Today this course is called Pebble Beach. (Also Samuel’s cousin by the same name invented Morse code. )