› added 8 years ago

82

TIL that in 1998, astronaut John Glenn returned to space at the age of 77, after a gap of 36 years - making him the oldest human being ever in space.

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kONNm TIL that in 1939 the London zoo killed all it's venomous animals to avoid releasing dangerous animals into the city in the event that the zoo was bombed.
aaR9 TIL George Orwell worked writing propaganda during World War II, and the experience helped shape his novel 1984
gMLO8 TIL The Apple IIGS computer was deliberately severely underclocked (2.8 out of 16 MHz) so it wouldn't outperform the much more expensive Macintosh Plus. (999 vs 2599 USD)
XRV8 TIL that Dmitri Krioukov, a physicist from San Diego, avoided a traffic fine by publishing a paper called The Proof of Innocence, for which he was also awarded a special prize of $400.
D1rpD TIL that Petra, the Blue Peter dog for 15 years, who was so loved there is even a statue of her at BBC television centre, was actually a replacement. The original Petra died two days after her debut and the show makers hastily found a lookalike to avoid upsetting the viewers.