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TIL The first Aeronautical Engineer for Boeing was an MIT educated Chinese naval officer hired in 1916

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oRrQE TIL that Varina Davis, the First Lady of the Confederate States of America, was personally opposed to slavery and doubted the Confederacy could ever succeed. After her husband’s death, she moved to New York City and wrote that “the right side had won the Civil War.”
BgOee TIL the most downvoted comment in history belongs to EA games with 667k downvotes
5VKaB TIL: The Allies raided a Nazi chemical company in 1944 and interrogated a chemist due to the amount of radioactive material involved. However, they learned that he was not working on nukes, but radioactive toothpaste known as Duramad, using radiation to kill germs. Some samples are in a museum now.
0dypA TIL: Phossy Jaw used to be a common affliction among workers in the matchstick industry for decades which destroys the bones of the jaw. While the cause was linked to the use of white phosphorus within 5 years, it took almost a century of strikes, bans, and taxes to stop its use in the industry.
Rvy4 TIL a study was done for which over 200 cigarette smokers were observed for a year as they attempted to kick the habit. 62% relapsed within the first two weeks, and 95% of those who smoked even just one cigarette after trying to quit resumed their previous pattern of smoking.