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TIL Volkswagen AG, the largest automaker by sales and seventh largest company in the world, is controlled by a single family descended from Ferdinand Porsche.

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X0nNj TIL that steam locomotives were still being manufactured for industrial use in 1999
yGWM TIL Vikings may have fought under the influence of shrooms and large amount of alcohol in order to go berserk. (berserksgang)
8eQGK TIL that during the War of 1812, Britain sent out a fake letter in Detroit that claimed they had 5,000 Native American warriors (they had about a tenth of that) and ensured their US enemy obtained this memo. It led to the US surrendering in Detroit, without a single British death.
E1Bvp TIL that Abigail Adams, who believed slavery was evil and antithetical to democracy, wrote on the eve of the Revolutionary War, that she doubted her fellow Americans had the "passion for liberty" they claimed to have, given how they "deprived their fellow creatures" of freedom.
b6eAN TIL that when planning Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg wanted Arnold Toht to be a cyborg, with a metal arm that could turn into a flamethrower or machine gun, and have a light instead of an eye. George Lucas rejected these ideas as too far-fetched.