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TIL Christa McAuliffe was gifted with a $1 million life insurance policy a week before the Challenger disaster in honor of her being the first teacher in space.

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xV9W0 TIL St. Bernard rescue dogs never carried brandy barrels. The trope comes from an 1820 painting done by a 17 year old.
E1pPd TIL the invention of satanic witchcraft by medieval authorities was initially met with public skepticism. While people were concerned about magic, the public didn't initially believe witches gathered to worship demons, have orgies, eat babies, and perform other abominable acts.
GYb4 TIL In Project Washoe, there was a chimp called Washoe who learned 350 words of the American Sign Language. She could understand emotions when a worker signaled ‘My baby died’, Washoe signaled 'cry’ and drew her finger down the worker’s cheek even though chimps don’t cry.
W7RYo TIL researchers found that a Medieval Italian man used a knife as a prosthetic limb after the amputation of his right hand. He attached it to his stump with a cap, buckle, and leather straps. The injury healed rather nicely and he managed to live for a very long time afterwards.
JY9VV TIL that Steven Spielberg watched Seinfeld episodes while filming Schindler's List to cheer himself up.