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TIL We Used To Sleep In Two Segments Every Night Until Electricity Was Invented

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mxrEv TIL that if you add 250ml of ethanol to 250ml of water, you get less than 500ml of liquid. This is due to strong hydrogen bonding that draws the different molecules close together, and because ethanol interferes with any open structures in the water, causing the molecules to pack closer together.
WkZ8B TIL in 1922 Raymond DeWalt invented the Radial Arm Saw, with the first saw blade driven directly by a motor. Naming it the "Wonder-Worker," he then started the DeWalt company which still exists today. Once a versatile staple of home workshops, the Radial Arm Saw is in extremely limited use today.
x6BrD TIL, that MacArthur Park featured in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was sung by the original Dumbledore himself..Richard Harris
QNbQX TIL Steven Spielberg told movie stars that if they wanted to work with him, a prerequisite was that they gambled along with him by not taking any salary upfront and instead only taking backend compensation. He said "...if my film makes no money I get no money. They should be prepared to do the same"
nWjvW TIL: raccoons are native to North America, having been introduced elsewhere only in the 20th century.