› added 11 years ago

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TIL a WWI ace landed his biplane atop an enemy observation balloon, cut his engines, and slid off into an acrobatic maneuver leaving the balloon to erupt into flames behind him

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l6bB TIL around 762, the demand for books in Baghdad was so high that any traders who brought books were given the weight of the books in gold in return.
GY59N TIL comedian Greg Davies' parents lived in England around the time he was born, but when his mother went into labor, his Welsh father drove them all across the border, just so his son would be Welsh-born, and thus eligible to play rugby for the Welsh national team
16ox4 TIL that on May 1, 1969 Mr. Rogers, host of the longtime children's television landmark Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, appeared in Washington before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications to express his disagreement with a proposal by President Nixon to cut federal funding for public broadcasting.
DQVVD TIL that Winston Churchill would have written John D. Rockefeller's biography, during the 1930s, but the Rockefellers withdrew their offer once Churchill demanded $250.000 for writing the biography of their patriarch.
b9GJa TIL about a species called the pied hoverfly (Scaeva pyrastri). It has copied the appearance of a wasp but it’s white. They do this to fool their natural enemies into not eating them because wasp are poisonous. So if u ever see one, don't worry it's harmless. (See link for photo’s)