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TIL renowned movie critic Roger Ebert briefly dated Oprah Winfrey

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mRax TIL in 2010 Mazda recalled 52000 cars due to spider infestation in the fuel system.
4kg4J TIL the US Forest Service uses military artillery to fight avalanches.
R5Ny7 TIL of Cottonclads, a class of lightly armed Confederate river ships armored with cotton bales. They used sharpshooters and rams as their main weapons, dropping the gangplanks down to board Union ships. They were used effectively at the Battle of Galveston, capturing the Harriet Lane.
JY7kv TIL JFK's father Joseph Kennedy made much of his fortune through insider trading. FDR later made him chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. When asked why he appointed a crook, FDR replied, "set a thief to catch a thief." Kennedy proceeded to outlaw the practices that made him rich.
BgxZb TIL that when the code-breakers at Bletchley Park were short of cribs, they would ask the RAF to mine specific areas of the North Sea, so that they could look for the name of the area and the word “mine” in subsequent German naval reports. This was known as “Gardening”.