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TIL that from the beginning of the Cold War to 1978, the US Army created a fictionalised opposing force known as the Aggressor Republic to train against in war games. The fictional Mediterranean nation was detailed enough that it had its own backstory and unique forces structure [PDF warning]

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LQAlv TIL When "New Coke" was released Pepsi gave their employee's the day off and ran full page newspaper ads to declare victory in the cola wars.
pkoO TIL of Radithor, a health drink in the 1920s that contained radium and slowly killed its customers. But it didn’t cause a public health crisis because it could only be afforded by rich people (unlike cheaper, safer knockoffs)
Z8vkQ TIL about Manfred von Richtofen aka the Red Baron . The baron was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during WW1. He is considered the ace-of-aces of the war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories.
W7XPY TIL that the world's longest floating bridge spans Lake Washington in Seattle and is called the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge. It is 7,710 feet long, the concrete floating bridge is the longest floating bridge in the world carrying State Route 520 from Seattle to its eastern suburbs.
QJMlp TIL of the “Coffin Torpedo”—a small shotgun secured inside the lid of a coffin to “prevent the unauthorized resurrection of the dead.” The shotgun fired lead balls at whoever pried the lid open and were used as an experimental deterrent to the rising tide of body snatchers in the late 1800s.