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TIL The Larvae of the Planthopper bug is the first living thing discovered to have evolved mechanical gears. They’re located in its legs and enable it to jump at an acceleration of 400Gs in 2ms.

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yVjjM TIL American writer Cormac McCarthy wrote 10 books and an estimated 5 million words on a 1963 Olivetti Lettera 32 typewriter. It sold at auction in 2009 for $254,500. The next day McCarthy received the same model from a friend as a replacement that cost $20.
7o1r TIL President Lyndon B. Johnson used to give out orders while he defecated and bragged about his sexual encounters by saying, “Jumbo got a workout last night.”
16ZmO TIL Rosa Parks hired Johnnie Cochran to sue Outkast and LaFace Records for Outkast’s 1998 Song “Rosa Parks”
Ob5g TIL Russia didn’t consider beer to be an alcoholic beverage until 2011. Before then it was classified as a soft drink.
Wg9A TIL that Oxford University was founded in 1249, some 75 years before the first appearance of the Aztec civilisation in 1325.