› added 11 years ago

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TIL - The word “Astronaut” literally means “Star sailor” The term derives from the Greek words ástron, meaning “star”, and nautes, meaning “sailor”.

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NXnXe TIL that George Miller, creator of the Mad Max films, was educated as a doctor and finished his residency before becoming a filmmaker
mVEO TIL that the Washington Monument is the tallest stone structure in the world
4XPmo TIL Fortune cookies, despite being associated with Chinese cuisine in the United States, were invented in Japan and introduced to the US by the Japanese. The cookies are extremely rare in China, where they are seen as symbols of American cuisine
ven8 TIL that a Minnesota action park lets you drive surplus military tanks and other armored vehicles around an old limestone quarry and smash junk cars and drive through trailer houses.
yQY5M TIL that in 2014, James D. Watson, who shared a 1962 Nobel Prize for describing the double-helix structure of DNA, sold his Nobel Prize Medal for $4.1M USD. In doing so, he became the first living Nobelist to sell his medal.