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TIL the US Air Force developed a top-secret plan to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon as a display of military might at the height of the Cold War. The mathematical modelling for the explosion was done by Carl Sagan.

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54J8 TIL that in 1959, an experimental nuclear reactor meltdown in Simi Valley (35 miles from Los Angeles) released an estimated 458 times more radiation than the Three Mile Island incident. The site remains radioactive to this day, which is surrounded by 500,000 people within 10 miles
YP5W TIL that the creator of Atari also created Chuck E. Cheese as a way to get kids to play Atari video games.
00A1 TIL that Carl Jung once told an alcoholic patient that the only way to get better was through spiritual means. The patient then joined a group and told them what Jung said. One of the group members eventually created Alcoholics Anonymous.
X0rLX TIL that the earliest settlers of Madagascar arrived in outrigger canoes from Borneo, about 4800 miles away. Estimates range from 350 BCE - 550 CE, making Madagascar one of the latest major landmasses to be settled by humans.
E1w77 TIL a Belgian mayor hired a DJ to play a music set as a way to drive out some visiting gypsies with loud music. The plan backfired as the gypsies just came out to party, the mayor received international bad press and, since no one had bothered to pay necessary composers’ rights, a 100 euro fine.