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TIL of Robert Martinson, an American sociologist who became notable nationwide in the early '70s for his influential conclusion that prison rehabilitation was ineffective. He killed himself a few years later, after he published a reversal of his stance that went largely unnoticed.

788QO TIL that Wind Turbines have recently been inspired by the bumps on a Humpback Whales flippers. These bumps allow a smaller number of blades and a smaller, more energy-efficient motor to move the same amount of air as a larger turbine.
awvpL TIL NASA never spent $1 Million to develop the space pen. The Fisher Pen company spent $1 million of its own money to make a zero-G pen, which NASA brought for about $6 per pen. The Soviets also switched to pens as they were safer than pencils.
p8ygN TIL that the well-known 'ugly' blob fish (the one with the nose) only looks like that when they are pulled out from the high pressure environments such as deep beneath the oceans up to the surface. The pressure change results in tissue damage which makes the fish look like it's melting.
Y7Mnx TIL of Mrs Chippy, a ship's cat aboard the Endurance during Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition. After Shackleton drove the ship into an ice-locked position, stranding everyone on the ice, he ordered the cat and several dogs shot because they were "weak".
j6G7E TIL The guy who designed Big Ben in London went insane a few months after finishing the clock design and handing the design to the project boss who never credited him for it.