› added 1 year ago

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TIL that Albert Batyrgaziev is the first professional boxer in Olympic history to win a gold medal.

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R7njQ TIL the Jabba The Hutt puppet was 2,000 lbs, took 3 months to build, 3 men to operate and cost half a million dollars to construct.
R77Zj Earlier this year, a NASA-led team conducted a series of carefully choreographed flights over California in order to sniff out how aircraft emissions differ when using petroleum fuels or biofuels. Early results from the Alternative Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise Emissions (ACCESS II) experiment confirm that blended biofuel is the cleaner-burning fuel.
kO9lW TIL that it's possible to buy random, assorted books "by the foot", for the sake of filling up and decorating otherwise empty bookshelves and libraries, a service typically used by filmmakers and decorators, but also rich people on occasion.
1aQD4 TIL that professional cyclists pee while cycling to save time, but are fined if it is in front of spectators or cameras.
EgR1W TIL about the revenge of the 47 rōnin, an event in Japan in which a band of rōnin (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their former master, who was ordered to commit seppuku by a powerful official. After waiting for a year, they killed the official, surrendered themselves and committed seppuku.