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TIL that nations like the former USSR, Sweden, and a majority of other European nations have stockpiled reserves of steam locomotives in case something happens that renders their diesel or electric fleets inoperable, such as a Nuclear EMP event.

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JY6pj TIL In 2011, a Brazilian man found a penguin covered in oil and close to death. He nursed him back to health and since then the Penguin swims 3 to 5 thousand miles every year to spend time with his human soulmate.
WyQ9 TIL that a believed reason for Genghis Khan’s death was an arrow to the knee
b9eyp TIL the bell on early cash registers (circa 1884), not marketing, is why prices like $1.99 rather than $2.00 exist. The 1¢ change back to the customer forced the cashier to open the till, ringing the bell, and make change. Otherwise the sale could more easily be pocketed by the clerk.
1aARr TIL The world’s first mobile phone call was made on April 3, 1973, when Martin Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola, called a rival telecommunications company and informed them he was speaking via a mobile phone.
N7KLM TIL that J.R.R. Tolkien considered a sequel to the LOTR trilogy called The New Shadow. Set 100 years later during the Age of Man, he quickly abandoned the idea because “it proved both sinister and depressing.”