› added 4 years ago

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TIL that the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex was a military base that cost over $2 billion and was voted to be decommissioned less than 24 hours after reaching full operational capability.

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grA0y TIL that the oldest football (soccer) ball dates back to 1540. It's half the size of a normal ball and was made from the bladder of a pig.
kJLd5 TIL Henry Ford was sued for libel by a Jewish farming co-op after publishing in the Dearborn Independent that the co-op was a front for a Jewish conspiracy to monopolize American agriculture. The libel suit led Ford to issue a retraction and public apology, and the Dearborn Independent folded.
OKy6 TIL inhabitants of North Sentinel Island have been there for 60,000ish years, remain completely untouched by modern civilization and kill outsiders who get too close.
1avX TIL, according to the director, that the unopened package in Cast Away contained a working solar-powered and waterproof satellite phone.
5YJan TIL In 1903, the New York Times declared that "flying machines" were essentially a waste of time—only a week before the Wright brothers successfully flew their airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.