› added 9 months ago

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TIL that a "cloudburst" is a sudden and extreme downpour of rain over a small area within a short period of time, often accompanied by strong winds and sometimes hail and thunderstorm. They are especially common in mountainous areas and have caused several deadly flash floodings on record.

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d4MZ TIL that some common civilian aircraft have anti-missile countermeasure systems on them
xY4k TIL the man who killed President McKinley, often dismissed as a mentally disturbed anarchist, did it in part due to US policies in the Philippines at the time, which though nearly forgotten today, resulted in the deaths of 200k-250k civilians and over 5,000 US troops
e9xn TIL Charles Steinmetz, the Wizard of Schenectady, listened to a problem generator for two days before marking a spot and telling engineers to replace sixteen windings from a field coil. He itemized the $10,000 invoice thusly: Marking spot - $1; Knowing where to mark - $9,999.
5YOdQ TIL about Rabbit Show Jumping, aka "Kaninhop", which is basically equestrian sports but scaled down for bunnies.
LQylm TIL that after having a hit with Ain't No Sunshine in 1971, Bill Withers refused to quit his job at a factory for some time afterwards, believing that the music industry was fickle. The album cover of the album which features the song is a photograph of Withers outside the factory where he worked.