Today

kJVPB TIL that NASA lost a $330m Mars Orbiter in 1999, immediately before mars orbit was achieved, because one of the contracted US companies used imperial units instead of metric.
78MWP TIL Not only did the YMCA use to offer dormitory housing at most of it's US locations, it boasted over 100,000 rooms in the 1940's. This was more than any hotel chain at the time.
ZplMD TIL Rachel McAdams who plays 17 year old Regina George was 25 years old at the time. Her mother on film Amy Poehler was was only 8 years older at 33.
a8x09 TIL Ina "The Barefoot Contessa" 's husband, Jeffrey, is characterized on the show as kind of a semi-helpful goofy shlub. In reality he's an absolute badass with a shockingly impressive military record and potent government and finance career. More impressive than anything Ina has ever done.
KYKXQ TIL that Captain Planet (1990-1996) was created by media mogul Ted Turner along with executive producer Barbara Pyle
dD94r TIL: Gravity on the ISS is ~90% of the Earth's. It looks like they're on zero-G because both the astronauts and the ISS are in a continual state of freefall (orbiting the Earth).
oRlvK TIL Thomas F Wilson, who played Biff in Back to The Future, shared an apartment with Andrew Dice Clay and Yakov Smirnoff before his big break.
16o7r TIL that Vatican City's GDP is less than the median US income(no idea how that makes sense)
GAKnN TIL the man who killed Franz Ferdinand, Gavrilo Princip, was only 19 and also killed Franz Ferdinand's wife Sophie. This occurred when their convertible unexpectedly stopped 5 feet in front of the assasin.
pYNBZ TIL that when a man named Reginald Francis Cheese enlisted in the British army during World War I, he used the surname "Cleese" because he found his real surname embarrassing. He officially changed his surname to Cleese in 1923, and went on to become the father of the famous comedian John Cleese.
J1KRQ TIL. of the Disability Paradox where non-disabled people thinkthat being disabled would result in terrible quality of life, but that is not what disabled people report
vPbR4 TIL dancer Isadore Duncan's died in 1929 at a mere age 50 because her long/large scarf caught in the rear wheel of the vehicle she was travelling in, a cause of death sometimes known as the 'Isadore Duncan syndrome'