› added 9 years ago

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TIL that form 1969 to 1977, Ford Motor Company produced the Pinto with full knowledge of a design flaw that frequently caused the fuel tank to catch fire during rear collisions, which would have cost $11 per vehicle to fix. The tag line in radio ads was, “Pinto leaves you with that warm feeling.”

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d8QW7 TIL that those USB A ports with an outwards bent flange are actually meant to be completely on the inside of the housing
d8O17 TIL about Project Rulison. The US detonated a 40 kiloton nuclear weapon underground in rural Colorado. The goal was to liberate natural gas as part of Operation Plowshare. Unfortunately the gas was too radioactive to use in homes.
1xdO TIL a 17-year-old Japanese pitcher struck out 9 MLB stars including Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig. He refused to join MLB saying “My problem is I hate America, and I can’t make myself like Americans.” He had a 1.74 ERA over 7 seasons in Japan before joining the navy in 1943 where he died in action.
vj88 TIL there was a traffic jam so bad that it lasted for 10 days with some people being stuck for up to 5 days. It was so bad a mini economy formed along the road to provide services to the stuck drivers.
K1n9 TIL of a Russian dog whose owners were killed in a car accident. Despite attempts to adopt or re-home him, the dog refused to leave the site of the accident and waited for them until it died 7 years later. The city informally adopted the dog and dedicated a statue honour its loyalty.