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TIL in 1997, a civilian pilot witnessed and reported one of the most widely sighted UFO appearances, the Phoenix Lights. That pilot was actor Kurt Russell, who only learned of the significance of the lights years later when he saw it mentioned on a TV show his wife was watching.

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QYwa TIL At the time of the Battle of Britain (1940) several nations had functioning radar systems (inc. Germany) but it was the British ‘Dowding system’ that allowed positions of enemy planes to be relayed to fighters in the air, resulting in interception rates of >90% and turning the tide of the war.
D1Wme TIL about Benford's Law - if you get a bunch of random numbers, the most common leading digit will be the number one (around 30%)
X059Q TIL “☪️OE✡️IS✝️” was designed by a Piotr Mlodozeniec for a contest held by an art museum in Jerusalem. The design gained popularity when Indians students trademarked it and sold it on shirts. Their legal team then reached out to Mlodozeniec for permission to use it so they could sue a competitor.
XVQX TIL that scientists with the University of Rochester have figured out how to manipulate light into moving at what they think to be negative speeds.
j5jn TIL in 2002 (14 year old school drop out) William Kamkwamba built a solar powered water pump that, for the 1st time ever, supplied drinkable water to his village. Unable to afford school tuition, he taught himself to do this by reading library books.