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TIL that all undergraduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology must pass a swimming test before they can graduate.

Read more physicaleducationandwellness.mit.edu

via reddit.com

4oR5 TIL that the first automated telephone exchange was created by Almon B. Strowger, because a competitor’s wife was the operator of his local exchange, and therefore redirected calls meant for him to her husband’s business instead.
BrlGb TIL, Sperm whales, the biggest toothed whale on Earth, dont actually have teeth in the top jaw. They instead have sockets in the upper jaw that the bottom teeth fit neatly in to.
VBWA4 TIL about Shizo Kanakuri, a Japanese runner who dropped out of the 1912 Olympic race (he fell asleep during his rest mid-race), but returned 54 years later to officially finish it. Kanakuri joked: “It was a long trip. Along the way, I got married, had six children and 10 grandchildren.”
xVZRg TIL Nick Mason from Pink Floyd has raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times. However, he only managed to finish two of these races.
e0Dv6 TIL: After the conclusion of the First World War, the French government declared a "Zone Rouge" deemed unfit for human habitation.