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TIL - Most of the smoke billowing up from a space shuttle launch is not exhaust. It is water vapor from the pool of water under the shuttle designed to absorb the acoustic shock waves that could otherwise tear the shuttle apart.

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0KMM TIL of Gene Salazar, a professional golfer who signed a lifetime endorsement deal with Wilson in 1923 and collected paychecks for 75 years until he passed away in 1997.
pYo48 TIL the reason that purple has traditionally been associated with royalty was because, in Ancient Rome, the only source of purple was milking and fermenting the liquid from a snail. It took 12,000 snails to produce 1 gram of dye! This made the Caesars declare it their exclusive color.
Lkndv TIL Texas didn’t have safety regulations on natural gas until after a school blew up and killed hundreds of children. Nobody was held accountable, but they passed strict regulations afterwards. It was so bad that even Hitler sent a letter of condolence.
Q19e TIL “The Dutch Reach” [SFW] using your far-hand to reach for a car door handle. It forces you to swivel, automatically looking out at mirror & easily back for bikes & traffic decreasing the chances of “dooring” a cyclist.
R7ymj TIL that lightning can't strike the same place twice is a myth. It can, and often does strike the same place repeatedly. The Empire State Building gets struck about 25 times per year