› added 6 years ago

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TIL that David Hahn, the "Radioactive Boy Scout" was arrested in 2007 when someone saw him stealing a smoke detector. A search of his apartment found 16 more. Smoke detectors were one of the items he used to get the radioactive material to build the breeder reactor in his mom's shed in 1994.

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gM7Xy TIL that Shirley Temple witnessed the Soviet invasion of Prague following Prague Spring, later becoming ambassador to Czechoslovakia.
9GOB TIL the Japanese military ran human experiments in China, including organ removal, blood loss, being burnt alive, forced pregnancy followed by vivisection, all without anesthesia. The US gave immunity to those involved in exchange for the data. Many doctors had successful postwar careers. [NSFW]
64kZ TIL that there was a Peanuts/Spider-Man crossover.
wLwdY TIL Idaho got its name because some guy George M. Willing proposed the name to Congress, claiming that it was Shoshone Indian for “Gem of the Mountain,” when it was really just a word he made up.
Oor4R TIL that the weightless scenes in the movie Apollo 13 were real. The space capsule set was built inside a cargo plane that would freefall for about 20 seconds at a time, simulating being in orbit. The plane would then climb back up to film the next scene.