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TIL the USA performed a high-speed train test in 1966 by literally strapping two jet engines on top of a rail car. It did 183 MPH.

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XEPlk TIL that an excavation of ancient Babylon revealed evidence that Babylonians were making soap around 2800 B.C. They were the first one to master the art of soap making. They made soap from fats boiled with ashes. Soap was used in cleaning textile manufacture and medicinally for at least 5000 years.
yQlvM TIL HMS Porcupine was blown in half by a German torpedo, the two halves were towed back to the UK and recommissioned as two ships; HMS Pork and HMS Pine
PVLL TIL Twitch (the video game streaming platform) was originally called Justin.tv which was Justin Kan live streaming his whole life with a camera clipped to his hat and a 30lb backpack that held the computer that would send the data over a cell phone network.
b9L77 TIL the oldest company in the world has been operating since 578 AD
JPXQ TIL McSorley’s Old Ale House, the oldest Irish tavern in New York City (founded 1854) didn’t allow women inside until 1970 when the National Organization of Women sued them for discrimination