› added 4 years ago

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TIL the shape of the Pentagon was designed after the first planned build location. The plot of land was Pentagon shaped. They switched locations to not hurt the view of D.C. from Arlington cemetery but kept the shape because it would have been too expensive to change and FDR liked the design.

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VOQ8 TIL the famous quote from the movie Apollo 13 “Houston, we have a problem” was changed for creative purposes from the actual phrase said by astronaut Jack Swigert, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
woKW1 TIL about the "catapult-able cockpit", created by Romanian inventor Anastase Dragomir and successfully tested in 1929 at the Paris-Orly Airport, which featured a parachuted chair that was ejected from an aircraft. It was the first modern layout for an ejection seat, later perfected during WWII.
9v86 TIL US Veterans Can Choose an Atheist Headstone Emblem (an Atom with an A in the center)
4kpXX TIL in 1974 the US made Daylight Saving Time permanent with 79% public approval. Support dropped to 42% the first winter due to everyone waking up in darkness. It was repealed the next year.
0wM8R TIL male platypus venom contains a hormone that promotes insulin release, called GLP-1; it's found in humans but degrades quickly. Platypuses make a long-lasting form of it, paving the way to new diabetes treatment; the platypus GLP-1 can be made in the lab so no platypuses will be needed for it.