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TIL of the Caterpillar Club, which consists solely of people who have jumped out of a failing airplane and survived by deploying their parachute. The club was founded by Leslie Irvin, who survived ejecting out of his plane in 1919, and every member is sent a gold caterpillar pin with amethyst eyes.

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N5xP TIL In 1904, tea bags were invented accidentally. The inventor, Thomas Sullivan, decided that it was cheaper to send small samples to potential customers in silk bags instead of boxes. The recipients believed they were meant to be dunked and soon Sullivan was flooded with orders for his “tea bags”.
YpKpx TIL that the Ebola pandemic that killed more than 2,200 people could have been prevented if it weren’t for paywalls, given that an article published in a subscription-only journal in 1982 had warned of the risk.
OGJrR TIL that musician Dagmar Turner played the violin during her brain surgery at King’s College Hospital in London, ensuring her musical abilities remained intact while a tumor was being removed.
p554 TIL: In France, it is the law, that only a croissant made with pure butter can be straight
VBRrm TIL Billionaire Peter Thiel paid $10 million to finance lawsuits against the media company Gawker, including the 2016 Hulk Hogan case that brought down the media company, as retaliation for an article outing him as gay in 2007.