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TIL: "The Momsen Lung" was a device used in World War 2 to escape submarines over 100ft deep. It recycled oxygen in your breath while filtering C02. It was used only once, in 1944, by 9 members of the USS Tang after it torpedoed itself and sank in 180 feet of water

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p8BLN TIL that the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director at the time, refused to acknowledge the existence of the Mafia. It was only when a local state trooper watched the home of mobster Joe Barbara on a hunch, that he stumbled onto a meeting of around 100 members, confirming their existence.
oB8JK TIL During WWI, the MI6 discovered semen could work as invisible ink. Mansfield Cumming, the first chief of the SIS was "making enquiries for invisible inks," and apparently semen did not react to the main methods of detection. It also had the advantage of being readily available.
1aKyX TIL Gremlins were invented by the RAF as mythical creatures who break airplanes, as way to explain random mechanical failures in reports; an "investigation" was even conducted to make sure Gremlins didn't have nazi sympathies
wLJO7 TIL that the first person to die in the American Civil War was actually killed by accident. The soldier's name was Daniel Hough and he was killed by an cannon explosion caused by the same cannon firing prematurely during a 100-gun salute to the flag.
VMDa4 TIL when Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson Family in 1969, Roman Polanski briefly suspected Bruce Lee of having committed the murder, due to a pair of eyeglasses found at the crime scene followed by a comment Bruce Lee made to Roman Polanski about how he had lost his own eyeglasses.