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TIL The earliest surviving aerial photograph is of Boston’s North End in 1860, taken from a hot air balloon. The photograph is titled ‘Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It.’

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D4ev TIL on December 24, 1955 a newspaper ad told kids they could call Santa & listed the number. The number was incorrect & went to the US Air Defense Command. The colonel on duty told his team to give all kids Santa’s “current location.” This tradition now handles calls from over 200 countries.
LkPBd TIL THE world's two largest standing Buddhas - one of them 165ft high - were blown up by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. After failing to destroy the 1,700-year-old sandstone statues of Buddha with anti-aircraft and tank fire, the Taliban brought a Lorryload of dynamite from Kabul.
5Yb4Q TIL about chlorine triflouride, a better oxidiser than Oxygen. It can set fire to things that are normally not flammable such as concrete, glass, flesh, sand, steel, asbestos, and ash. It is also extremely corrosive and will corrode things like Gold, Iridium, and Platinum.
PYo5G TIL that Ada Lovelace - a woman born in 1815 was the first to recognize that computers are more than just adding machines. She was co-responsible for the creation of the 'Analytical Engine' and is widely recognized as the world’s first Computer Programmer.
GAJEQ TIL that Timbaland plagiarized "Acidjazzed Evening" - a chiptune style track composed by Janne Sunni, to create the pop song "Do It". While he admitted to sampling, Timbaland did not believe his usage constituted 'stealing' and called the allegations 'ridiculous'.