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TIL During the Cold War the US began work on a huge secret telescope. The plan was to use the moon as a reflector, to spy on bounced signals from the USSR. It would have been double the size of the largest steerable telescope ever built to this day. All that remains now is the concrete foundation.

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xVwwb TIL that spiderwebs were used as bandages by ancient Greek and Roman soldiers, due to their antibacterial and antifungal properties, and containing vitamin K, which promotes clotting
4RRb TIL during the Cuban missile crisis a Soviet Submarine came under attack from depth charges, the captain assumed WW3 had started and prepared to launch a nuclear weapon, his executive officer overruled him. It turned out the depth charges were training rounds being used to signal them to surface.
GAgNQ TIL there is a high school in Vienna which is located on a boat on the Danube
PYn9V TIL In 1942, the Nazis cracked the algorithm for the serial numbers and rag content of British Pound notes. Using prisoners with counterfeiting skills, near perfect bills were produced with the plan to scatter them over England by air to induce hyperinflation and collapse the economy.
GYpVQ TIL on the upper floors of the 2700-ft Burj Khalifa skyscraper, the sun is still seen for several minutes after it has set at ground level. Dubai clerics have ruled that residents above the 80th floor should wait 2 additional minutes to break their Ramadan fast, and those above the 150th, 3 minutes.