› added 3 years ago

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TIL about Starlite, an enigmatic material of unknown composition that can, among other things: keep an egg cool after it was blowtorched for 5 minutes, ignore a plasma cutter capable of cutting a foot and a half of steel, and has had its properties verified by several governmental entities.

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via reddit.com

8eAWb TIL that an Elvis impersonator in Arkansas, who legally had his name changed to Elvis Presley, unsuccessfully ran for the positions of Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands in 2014, Arkansas State Senator of District 26 in 2016, and U.S. Representative of Arkansas's District 1 in 2018.
VMP1Z TIL in 1935 "Happy Birthday to You" was copyrighted with a value of 5M making it illegal to sing. In 2016 a federal judge ruled that the copyright was not valid and the song had no other claim to copyright, placing it in the public domain, and making it free to sing for all.
eAlD TIL Oskar Schindler became virtually destitute after the war and became bankrupt after trying to raise chickens in Argentina. For the rest of his life, he survived off gifts and donations from the Jews he had saved during the war.
ZnDR TIL the Sword in the Stone story was inspired by a real sword stuck in a stone. It was placed there miraculously by the first officially canonized saint in the Catholic Church in the 12th c. It’s still in the stone in a church in Italy.
gMQDW TIL that Shark repellent like the one used in the adam west Batman TV series actually exists and was used by the US Navy in WWII.