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TIL African-American physicist and mathematician Katherine Johnson calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard’s first space flight by hand. When NASA used computers for the first time to calculate John Glenn’s orbit around Earth, officials called on Johnson to verify its numbers.

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6En8w TIL that standing near a Gympie-Gympie Tree can cause hives and nosebleeds, while touching one causes a severe pain "like being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time." The pain can last up to two years.
VMYrk TIL the guy who invented 5-hour energy is a billionaire who has pledged 99% of his wealth to philanthropic solutions to help the developing world
N7mDE TIL about scholar's stones or gonshi naturally occurring or shaped rocks which are traditionally appreciated by Chinese scholars.
LDWZ TIL a quasar group called LQG is the largest known structure in the Universe. The group is so large that it would take a vehicle traveling at the speed of light some 4 billion years to cross it
rNOmw TIL when Jim Morrison was in his senior year, the books he read and reported on were all so offbeat, that teachers thought he made them up. A teacher also went to the Library of Congress to check if the books actually existed. He also had an IQ of 149, which is generally considered genius level.