› added 1 year ago

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TIL that the popular chemical brand WD-40 stands for Water Displacement-40, the 40 referring to the 40th attempt to successfully create a solution that actually worked, and it was originally meant to be specifically for aeronautics.

Read more wd40.com

via reddit.com

wgvE TIL that in 1924, when Standard Oil was researching tetraethyl lead as a gasoline additive, 32 of 49 workers had to be hospitalized due to lead poisoning, and 5 of them died. A federal panel made entirely of industry scientists later concluded that there “no danger” from tetraethyl lead.
wop7W TIL that Honey Nut Cheerios haven’t contained nuts since 2006. The nut flavor comes from a blend of peach and apricot pit
yVlma TIL that the genetic disorder Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva is a disorder in which muscle tissue and connective tissue are gradually replaced by bone (ossified), forming bone outside the skeleton. People with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva are generally born with malformed big toes
b9RgZ TIL on February 5, 1919, Hollywood heavyweights Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith joined forces to create their own film studio, which they called the United Artists Corporation.
0lvN TIL in 1962 the USSR decided to test a 300kt nuclear bomb in space over a populated area, the resulting EMP fused 350 miles of telephone lines, shut down 621 miles of buried power cables and burnt down a power station. The following year they signed & ratified a treaty banning tests in outer space.