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TIL that in 1976, a Soviet pilot defected to Japan in his advanced MiG-25 fighter, which Russia demanded be returned. Japan complied, but only after allowing American engineers to examine the aircraft. Japan then shipped it back piece by piece, and billed Russia $40,000 in transport and labor costs.

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MbNW TIL in 2011, the entire country of Armenia lost internet access for 12 hours after a woman in Georgia broke a fiber line with her shovel.
l7J9r TIL: the same man invented the Clean Room (CalTech), discovered the true age of the earth (4.5 billion), AND almost single-handedly got lead out of our gasoline and envirnoment. HERO: Clair Cameron Patterson
X0OXr TIL of the St Patrick's Battalion, a unit of the Mexican Army, was composed mainly of Irish Catholic immigrants who deserted the U.S. Army to fight for Mexico, due to sympathy for the Mexican cause based on similarities between the situations in Mexico and Ireland.
5VPdP TIL about the Western Interior Seaway, an ancient inland sea that divided North America during the Late Cretaceous period, around 100 to 66 million years ago. This vast body of water submerged present-day states such as Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, and Texas
dLNQ TIL that the American government had a “Conscience Fund” where people could send money if they felt guilty. The largest sum ever received was from 1909 when someone mailed in $18,669 (US$ 490,000 in 2015)