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TIL researchers modeled a system where the Peter Principle holds true and found that instead of promoting the best employees until they reach a level where they stop performing competently, it's more efficient for a company to promote employees at random. For this research they won an Ig Nobel.

QNMoX TIL The Identical Ancestor Point in humans is estimated to be most likely about ~5400 BC. Anyone with even one living descendant who was alive before the IAP is also an ancestor to all humans alive today.
Mep70 TIL that flour distributors used to make their sacks more colorful during the Great Depression to help the people who often made clothes out of them remain at least somewhat fashionable.
GAe1J TIL during 1904 Olympics men's marathon winner was disqualified as he rode in a car for part of the race. The actual winner was near collapse and hallucinating, an effect of being fed brandy, raw eggs, and strychnine by his trainers. The fourth-place finisher took a nap after eating spoiled apples.
4XRAo TIL about MARAUDER, a real plasma cannon developed by the United States Air Force in 1993. The device could fire a ring of plasma with the force of 5 pounds of TNT. Impact effects included a high temperature explosion with x-ray radiation and EMP.
4YKa TIL that when the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, Canada caught fire. The Soviets tried to take out the fire themselves and not call the fire department. When the fire department arrived the Soviets would not let them in. Eventually, they let them in only after the Soviets removed sensitive documents.