› added 7 years ago

73

TIL an American group from Harvard set out to observe the solar eclipse of Oct 27, 1780, with the Revolutionary War in full swing. Though the Brits granted them safe passage (sought in the name of science) into what was enemy territory, they still failed to witness totality due to miscalculations.

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6EVv8 TIL that ejection at Mach 3+ from the SR71 at attitude wasn't just possible, but less dangerous than ejecting at Mach 1 at lower altitudes
9Y8Jr TIL of 1960s Japanese TV series The Samurai. After few episodes were shown on Australian TV in 1964, viewer demand led to the entire series being shown: it became the most popular show on TCN9 to that time and when the series star arrived in Melbourne he was met by thousands of fans, many in costume
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