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TIL about Project West Ford, a Cold War project done by MIT on behalf of the US military. It was an attempt to create an artificial ionosphere around the Earth by launching millions of copper needles into orbit.

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LkpeV TIL that the German submarine U-1206 was lost due to a toilet malfunction: the leak flooded the submarine's batteries causing them to release chlorine gas, leaving the Commander with no alternative but to surface. Once surfaced, U-1206 was discovered and bombed by British patrols.
j0Ov TIL That in 2007, renown violinist Joshua Bell once played 6 Bach pieces at a metro station in DC. He played some of the hardest songs ever on a $3,500,000 violin for 45 minutes, and made $32 with 6 people watching. He frequently sells out shows for $100 a piece. There was no applause.
WkexY TIL "Chasing Amy" was originally supposed to be a Clueless-type teen comedy set in a high school with Ethan Suplee as one of the main characters. Instead, Mallrats (1995) bombed at the box office, forcing Kevin Smith to write the film's premise and setting.
Brmer TIL of Toshiba’s 300M yen robbery. In which a man dressed as a police officer intercepted a money delivery under a guise of needing to ‘inspect’ the car for explosives. After lighting a road flare under the car, the thief drove the car and money to ‘safety’, never to be seen again.
BrKBx TIL that the word ‘quarantine’ comes from 14th century (Venetian dialect) Italian ‘quaranta’ meaning 40, which was the number of days a ship had to stay off shore if suspected to have infections on board. Fitting.