› added 5 years ago

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TIL Suzuki Hayabusa, the fastest bike ever when introduced, was named so after the peregrine falcon, which can dive at up to 300 km/h (close to the bikes top speed), and also because it preys on blackbirds, also the name of the then fastest bike the Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird.

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1BLd TIL nuclear submarines create breathable air by using an electric current to split the hydrogen and oxygen molecules of ocean water. This allows them to stay submerged for months at a time.
16Q9V TIL that Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian engineer and economist who is considered one of the pioneers of game theory, experienced a notable personal setback when his wife left him for a servant, an event that reportedly had a significant impact on his life and work
p8XeA TIL that A Christmas Story is narrated by Jean Shepherd who wrote the short story that the film is based on. His career was primarily in radio, but he was encouraged to become a writer and adapt the stories he did for radio by his close friend, Shel Silverstein.
VBNMG TIL Stephen King never cashed the $5,000 check that Frank Darabont paid him in 1987 for the rights to adapt his novella 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption'. Eventually, King had the check framed and returned it to Darabont with a note that read, "In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve."
4XVM6 Til Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong despised each other. Soviet agents claim Stalin had ordered Mao to be fed well during his 10 days visit Moscow. Maos excrement was collected daily for test. Scientists wanted to determine the state of mind of the Chinese leader by examining excrement