Today I Learned 📚

This pedophile was identified when police uncovered his identity by reversing the 'swirl' effect he used online

NASA included 3 LEGO figurines aboard their Juno spacecraft for its journey to Jupiter. This was part of the "Bricks in Space" outreach program between NASA and the LEGO. The purpose of which was to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

TIL NATO logo does not say NATO backwards. NATO is an acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. OTAN is an acronym for the French translation of that. Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord.

When NASA used electronic computers for the first time - to calculate John Glenn's orbit around Earth - officials called on Katherine Johnson to verify the computer's numbers; Glenn had asked for her specifically and had refused to fly unless Johnson verified the calculations.

Many plastic items have a set of three arrows forming a triangle with a number in the middle - but it’s not a recycling symbol. It’s a resin stamp indicating roughly the type of plastic it is. The petrochemical industry created it to make consumers think the item is recyclable.

TIL Uwe Hohn is the only person in history to throw a javelin 100m. His world record of 104.8m was declared an "Eternal World Record" as it will likely never be broken due to the IAAF redesigning the javelin in 1986 and resetting the WR to coincide with the change.

TIL Public toilet seats are U-shaped because the American Standard National Plumbing Code writes that they must have a gap at the front.

Snow globes were accidentally invented by a medical tool repair man. He was trying to make a brighter light bulb for operating rooms, so he tried using a water filled glass with reflective particles to do this. The effect looked like snow to him which is how he got the idea.

TIL In the 1980s, an obscene image was snuck into one of the ice cubes in a Coca-Cola ad in South Australia. The company recalled and destroyed all of the posters, and the artist responsible for the image was fired and sued.

TIL that in 1989, scientists at IBM succeeded in arranging 35 individual xenon atoms on a substrate of chilled crystal of nickel to spell out the initials "IBM". It was the first time atoms had been precisely positioned on a flat surface.