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TIL that the flags planted on the moon (Apollo 11) were purchased by a NASA secretary who went to Sears and bought off-the-shelf nylon flags for $5.50 USD (1969). These flags are still “flying” and held aloft by their poles.

Read more hq.nasa.gov

via reddit.com

JYNYQ TIL about the island of Poveglia. It was used to quarantine plague victims until their death and then turned into an mental hospital until 1968. Now it’s nothing but haunted.
KOEZw TIL Dasrath Manjhi spent 1960 to 1982 chiseling away at a mountain, without anyone assisting him, to create a new road which shortened the driving distance to his village by 40 km. He was motivated by the fact that his wife died from being unable to get to a hospital in time.
ANQ7o TIL that since 2004, Parque EcoAlberto, an outdoor adventure park in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, has offered a 3 hour nighttime experience that puts visitors through a fake crossing of the US-Mexico border with sirens, dogs, chases, drug smugglers and the fake border patrol yelling threats.
69N4W TIL Arthur Ashe published a three-volume book in 1988 titled A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete. He worked with researchers for nearly six years on the book and later stated that the book meant more to him than any of his tennis titles.
p8lPG TIL about Brooke Greenberg, a girl who never aged. She died at the age of 20 still looking like a toddler.