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TIL When counting down to the launch of an explosive, e.g. when testing a new model of gun, it is customary to omit "5" from the countdown sequence because "five" sounds too similar to 'Fire!'

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vPDo4 TIL The chances of survival in gladiatorial games were higher than originally thought. In fact, only 1 in 9 fights ended in death.
PYDNJ TIL that the Menendez brothers are on a basketball card, photographed shortly after they murdered their parents.
ndpB TIL: When an F18 is catapulted from its carrier, the pilot doesn’t actually take the controls. The acceleration is so brisk that the pilot would pitch down thinking that the nose was to high and crash into the ocean. They instead just hold handle they call the “towel rail”
6ELoZ TIL the famous "Aaron Burr" Got Milk? ad of the early 90s was directed by a then unknown Michael Bay.
4pxb TIL that there is video footage, colorized, of the Buddhist monk lighting himself on fire on June 11, 1963