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TIL in 1987, Mathias Rust, an 18 year old from West Germany with about 50 hours flying experience, illegally flew his light aircraft through Soviet airspace, bypassing their air defense systems, and landed near Red Square in Moscow.

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mxdnp TIL the Hawthorne Effect is when an individual modifies their behavior because they are being observed. Somewhat like a placebo effect, the novelty of being a research subject and the increased attention could lead to behavior changes that result in false positive & inaccurate experiment conclusions
krjm TIL when a airplane crashed in the icy Potomac River, Arland Williams and 5 other survivors fled to the tail section. He was then tossed a lifeline from a helicopter twice and handed it off twice to others more severely injured than himself. He ended up being the only victim to die by drowning.
VBm8B TIL that Anton LeVey based the Church of Satan on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
neeyW TIL a Potter's field is a place where unclaimed bodies are buried. The Potter's field for New York is Hart Island in the Bronx and it is home to over one million bodies.
ne9bB TIL Opossums are only pregnant for 11-13 days and they can give birth to over 20 babies.