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TIL that the EPA was founded as a response to an overly polluted river catching fire in 1969

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6jEW TIL all British Army armored vehicles must have an electric kettle so the crew can brew tea without getting out. This rule was made after a WWII ambush, where a British tank squadron lost 29 vehicles to a surprise attack by four German tanks while the British crews were outside having morning tea
jQNj TIL that nematodes (C. elegans) from an experiment aboard the US space shuttle Columbia were found alive in the wreckage of the shuttle disaster in 2003.
E4Xd TIL There is a film that has been in development since 1981, that by 2004 had only 25 minutes of usable footage.
rRlaW TIL: Hannibal's army used vinegar and fire setting (heating and wetting rocks to make them crack) to widen paths in the Alps. This allowed him the room needed for his elephants.
Eg49w TIL The name of the family in the Swiss Family Robinson is not actually Robinson (which isn't a Swiss name) but refers to the novel being part of the "Robinsonade" genre of literature, referring to Robinson Crusoe