› added 3 years ago

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TIL in 1997 Russia tried manually docking a supply vessel to the Mir space station using only a handheld laser range finder, stopwatch, and remote control joysticks. It went badly, but visiting NASA astronaut Michael Foale managed to save Mir by MacGyvering sailing technique with physics knowledge.

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mxYyv TIL U.S. Marine R. Lee Ermey was initially hired as a technical advisor for Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket". Kubrick changed his mind after seeing an instructional video Ermey put together.
9YkXQ TIL when Abraham Lincoln was criticized by his opponents for being "two-faced" he jokingly answered "If I Had Another Face, Do You Think I'd Wear This One?"
M7YyW TIL that although equiped with parachutes while on air ambulance missions during WWII, the Flying Nightingales of the WAAF were instructed not to bail out and stay with the patients if their plane was shot down so that they would be on hand to provide medical support should anyone survive the crash
R71n9 TIL Michel van Rijn, an art forger and dealer in stolen antiquities, went legit to help the Republic of Cyprus to recover priceless 7th-century mosaics looted during the Turkish occupation of the island.
pmBp TIL The main characters in the Left 4 Dead series are carriers of the zombie virus, and are spreading it.