› added 7 months ago

18

TIL GPS, despite being free for global use, costs around $2 million a day to operate and maintain. This budget covers satellite launches and system upkeep, funded through American tax revenue.

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1aPkd TIL: Archaeologist Alexander Peev was executed by firing squad in 1943 on suspicion of sending a coded message to the Soviet Union. It was actually an ancient inscription he wanted Russian archaeologists to help him interpret. The text remains undeciphered.
neDM7 TIL that the amount of physical US currency in circulation has doubled between 2010 and the beginning of 2020
oKpY TIL a common prank in the 1800s involved putting the end of a thread from a spool through a clothes seam and getting unsuspecting strangers to try to pull out what they think is a loose thread. The spool unwound as they pulled, and the prankster enjoyed a jolly good laugh.
Z8eE4 TIL Craig Bartlett, creator of Hey Arnold!, was married to Lisa Groening, making "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening his brother-in-law.
EjlW TIL that one nonprofit has gotten over 8,000 communities to end Female Genital Mutilation in West Africa.