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TIL in 1883, a Mexican astronomer witnessed hundreds of unidentified objects passing in front of the Sun. Today, they are thought to have been fragments of a massive comet that missed the Earth by just a few hundred kilometers. Had it hit, it likely would've caused an extinction-level event.

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p8GxN TIL that George Wallace was reelected as Governor of Alabama in the 80's by winning over many black voters. He would then appoint over 160 African Americans into positions of power in the state
worWE TIL the alleged Goebbels quote "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." has been repeated in numerous books and articles and on thousands of web pages, yet there is no primary source for it.
R5nJ7 TIL of the 1991 Downing Street mortar attack, in which IRA members launched three mortars at No. 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting, attempting to kill John Major. One hit the lawn 30 yards away, and it is believed that if this mortar had hit the building the entire cabinet would have died.
Brw6b TIL that new wave group Blondie had their first hit in Australia in 1977 after music program Countdown played the music video for In the Flesh, supposedly by mistake
neGBo TIL in the UK, Superman was portrayed in an anti-smoking campaign against his arch rival Nick O’Teen - an evil villain who looked like a human cigarette butt with yellow stained teeth. The campaign was aimed at kids aged 7 to 11 and 800,000 of them ask for an anti-smoking campaign pack via the mail.