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TIL that John F. Kennedy's patrol boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. After a 3-mile swim to an island, he and his crew survived on coconuts for 2 days. Rescued by two islanders, their message etched on a coconut shell became a paperweight on JFK's desk.

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8y08 TIL The first stealth technology test failed. They couldn’t understand why until they noticed a bird sitting on the test object. They blew a loud horn, the bird flew off, and the test object disappeared from the radar screen showing stealth technology was a success.
4Xnmb TIL Ice Cream, Macaroni and Cheese, French Fries, and Champagne were all popularized in or introduced to America by President Thomas Jefferson
W79X9 TIL in the Siege of Arrah 1857, an army of 11000 Indians failed to defeat the besieged 50 British soldiers and 18 civilians
nWrxr TIL in 2018, the 120-resident village of Acquetico in Italy installed speed cameras after being fed up with people speeding through it. In next 2 weeks, it recorded 58,500 speeding infractions.
PYB5E TIL of "Satchel" Paige, who was the oldest major league baseball debutant (at 42) as well as the oldest player to play a major league game (two weeks shy of 60)