› added 11 years ago

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TIL Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space, was grounded from spaceflight for the next 10 years due to an inner-ear disorder. When he was finally cured and chosen to walk on the moon, NASA headquarters grounded him again - from Apollo 13.

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9YdQm TIL that In 1980 Keele University, in response to education spending cuts, issued a unilateral Declaration of Independence. The “Free Republic of Keele” declared themselves independent of the UK and issued students with new passports, enforced border control and wrote a new national anthem
9exr TIL that after his mom died, Albert Ransom learned to code and built an indie game called CandySwipe. Two years later, a near-identical game called Candy Crush Saga was released.
4dQJ TIL Yawning is not contagious for children with Autism due to the inattention to facial cues rather than lack of empathy.
X1JD TIL that cats are unable to taste sweet flavors, and are the only mammal that cannot do so.
og7r TIL Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko is regarded as the most successful female sniper in history, credited with 309 kills during WWII