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TIL that the American Rock Band ‘The Postal Service’ was sent a cease and desist letter by the United States Postal Service for trademark infringement of their name. After negotiations, the USPS allowed the band to use their name in exchange for playing a free show at their national conference.

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N1rN TIL Al-Jazari, a 12th-century Kurdish polymath, invented the crankshaft, piston engine, valve, cam, mechanical clock, combination lock, hydropower driven water supply system, and the first programmable humanoid robot. Leonardo Da Vinci was inspired by his work.
r86y TIL 50 years before women were allowed to enroll into medical school, Margaret Ann Bulkley dressed as a man for 56 years to study medicine and become her alter-ego, Dr James Barry. It was only when she died in 1865 that her secret was exposed after 46 years working as an army medical officer.
9YBDp TIL The CFPB ordered Ally Financial Inc. and Ally Bank to pay $80 million in damages to African-American, Hispanic, and Asian and Pacific Islander consumers harmed by Ally's discriminatory auto loan pricing, and $18 million in civil money penalties.
6r0W TIL of the Steller’s sea cow. At up to thirty feet long, it was one of the largest mammals to have ever lived. It was famous among sailors because its meat was delicious and lasted for months without spoiling. Within twenty seven years of its discovery, it was hunted to extinction.
Yjgv TIL scientists studied a parrot for 30 years and found he had the intelligence of a five-year-old human. He had a vocabulary of 150 words and could ask for a banana. If he was offered a nut instead, he would stare in silence, ask for the banana again, or take the nut and throw it at the researcher.