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TIL of Sophia Blanchard one of the first women to fly hot air balloons. She lost consciousness on a few occasions, endured freezing temperatures and almost drowned when her balloon crashed in a marsh. In 1819, she died when her air balloon crashed. 10 years earlier her husband died the same way.

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pYwrN TIL about the Union Army Balloon Corps, a branch of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It employed a group of prominent American aeronauts and seven specially built, hydrogen balloons to perform aerial reconnaissance on the Confederate States Army.
6EGKm TIL due to lash back from a Far Side cartoon where a female chimp finds a human hair on the male she is grooming and says, “Conducting a little ‘research’ with that Jane Goodall tramp?”, Gary Larson now donates all profits from sales of a shirt featuring this cartoon to The Jane Goodall Institute.
7rBdx TIL about the Sun Bear, the world's smallest bear species, which grows to only 28 inches tall. Sun bears are shy and reclusive and may bark if startled. They prefer to spend their time away from people (and predators), sunbathing and sleeping in trees.
4kvwR TIL Robert Earl Jones, father of James Earl Jones, acted in The Sting (1973) and Trading Places (1983)
xVGVo TIL: Dedicated Japanese monks spent years going through the horrifying process of turning themselves into mummies... while still alive. Viewing their bodies is now one of the world's creepiest tourist attractions.