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TIL during WWII, Rolex allowed allied PoWs to order watches with the company taking each man’s word as his bond and duly sending the watch. This boosted morale in taking payment on account implied confidence the Allies would win the war.

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N0B8 TIL that astronaut Alan Shepard’s pre-launch prayer before becoming the first American to reach orbit was “Don’t fuck up, Shepard…”
N7vmQ TIL that although being a famous runaway wedding destination the Scottish town of Gretna Green has the dubious honour of holding the worst rail disaster in British History. With the precise death toll never established (but believed to be 226) those killed were mainly heading for Gallipoli.
VMr6Q TIL ancient Greek rowers wore greased cushions to allow for a sliding stroke to take advantage of the power of the leg muscles.
JkB4 TIL Tesla does not advertise because Elon Musk sees advertising as manipulative and dishonest
e0oKJ TIL that there is a tree called the Idiot Fruit tree (Idiospermum australiense) which only occurs in Australia’s Daintree rainforest. It is also known as the green dinosaur due to it dating back over 100 million years.