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TIL The word “silhouette” derives from Étienne de Silhouette, French finance minister, whom imposed severe economic demands upon the French. Prior to the advent of photography, profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a person’s appearance. Therefore, the connection.

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l794G TIL that in the 1990s, the CIA developed a robotic catfish named "Charlie." This unmanned underwater vehicle was designed to collect water samples covertly, controlled via a line-of-sight radio handset. The details of its missions remain classified.
QJ9xa TIL Dnieper Hydroelectric Station project used the experience gained from the construction of the Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations at Niagara Falls among others. Six American engineers were awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour for it.
e0rW6 TIL Germany’s censorship laws in video games are so strict that they are not allowed to show violence or death of any kind. To get around this, enemies in video games are changed from humans to robots, so that when they are shot, there is technically no blood or death shown on screen
m1WdM TIL that stainless steel does rust, and the likelihood of corrosion depends on the chromium content of the stainless steel.
9YjoB TIL about The Battle of the Frogs. The loud croaking of thousands of fighting bullfrogs was heard in a pond in Windham, CT, USA. The sound caused citizens to panic and assume that Windham was under attack, some of them mistaking the croaks for shouted words, the beating of drums, or Armageddon.