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TIL Tom Delonge of Blink-182 is a firm believer in extraterrestrial life and once had his phone tapped by the government for coming into possession of 36 hours of Congressional testimonial footage of NASA’s secret space program.

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9MQG TIL In 1906 An irish Olympic silver medalist Peter O Connor climbed a 20 foot flag pole and waved the irish flag when made to compete for Britain, All while irish and irish-American athletes fought off guards at the end of the pole.
JYae4 TIL that one consequence of lower oil prices is that fewer plastics get recycled. Since plastics are petroleum based products, if oil prices fall low enough, it's cheaper for companies that might use recycled materials to just manufacture new plastics, and recyclables end up in landfills.
axY9 TIL the Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure in the world, is named after a living person– the President of the United Arab Emirates
wL1yP TIL of John II of France, who was captured by the English, in the Hundred Years War, and held hostage in London. An exchange of hostages occurred, with his son, Louis, taking his place. When John II was informed that Louis had escaped from captivity, he voluntarily returned to England as a hostage.
p8418 TIL that the "boiling frog fable" - the premise that a frog suddenly put into boiling water will jump out, but if put into tepid water which is then slowly brought to a boil, will cook to death - is false: a frog that is gradually heated WILL jump out