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TIL in 1975 Otrag, a West-German company, developed cheap transport rockets. The USSR became nervous, and American corporations concerned about low-cost competitors. American media came to use crude Soviet propaganda to sabotage them, making Otrag evicted from their Congolese base (more in comments)

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gbb4 TIL of the “Tiffany Problem”. Tiffany is a medieval name—short for Theophania—from the 12th century. Authors can’t use it in historical or fantasy fiction, however, because the name looks too modern. This is an example of how reality is sometimes too unrealistic.
myJy TIL that for 150 years, whenever a new heir was born to the Annheiser-Busch brewing family, they would be fed five drops of Budwiser before even having their mothers milk
XOyP TIL that One-third of the world’s smokers are Chinese, amounting to a smoking population greater than the entire population of the United States.
VBjkm TIL that hummingbirds are the only birds capable of flying backwards! Their wing structure allows them to hover in place and move any direction, making them incredibly agile fliers. They also undertake remarkable migrations, flying ~500 miles nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico in a season.
grrwA TIL Dean Martin was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in 1982. Martin told reporters he had carried a .38 in his boot for years after several incidents involving strangers coming up to him at restaurants that Martin had considered "life threatening."