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TIL whiskers can spontaneously grow from tin and several other metals, sometimes causing catastrophic damage within electrical circuits. NASA has a team dedicated to investigating this risk, but the fundamental cause of “whiskering” has still not been discovered.

Read more nepp.nasa.gov

via reddit.com

9Yvxr TIL that in 1943, Canada declared the maternity ward of Ottawa Civic Hospital extraterritorial. This was done so that the newborn Princess Margriet of the Netherlands would derive her Dutch citizenship from her mother. The royal family had fled to Canada three years prior due to the Nazi occupation.
NXraM TIL Elytra, AKA the hard casing of beetle wings, were used in Mughal India and then later on in Victorian England to adorn clothing, like an early form of sequins.
OGVPR TIL Until the year 2000, the State of Virginia celebrated Lee-Jackson-King day, lumping two Confederate leaders in with Dr. Martin Luther King.
Do7J TIL people in Churchhill, Manitoba(Canada), never lock their car doors in case anyone has to escape polar bears.
5VYMD TIL Super Mario 64's OST uses the same motif for most of its songs.