› added 5 years ago

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TIL Operation BLACKCOCK was a codename selected for an operation to clear German troops from the Roer Triangle during World War II.

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wo5eP TIL in 1947 Raytheon built the first commercially available microwave oven. It weighed 750 pounds, was water-cooled and cost about US$5,000 ($61,000 in 2021 dollars).
wEpo TIL there has existed, since 1997, a patent for a supposed cure for AIDS, patent #5676977.
Bry8b TIL that bats are one of just a few species, besides humans, that communicates directly to individual bats, instead of just making broad communication sounds.
RBx8 TIL: Bats exert no energy to hang upside down, instead relying on its body weight to keep it’s talons closed.
NX89b TIL: Gary Dahl, who invented the pet rock in 1975 came up with the idea at a bar with friends as a joke. He later began selling rocks. Within 2 months he was selling 10k rocks a day within half a year he was a millionaire. His later ideas of "Sand Breeding Kits" and "Red China Dirt" failed.