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TIL the important jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman's first saxophone was made of plastic. He bought it because he couldn't afford one made from metal. At first he didn't like the sound, though he continued to play it for years after he likely could have afforded a metal one

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1AgX TIL between 1970 and 1973, four Israeli fighter pilots translated The Hobbit from English to Hebrew to pass the time in an Egyptian prison, where they were held as POWs. The pilots’ translation was published commercially in 1977, and up until 2012 was considered the best Hebrew version of the book.
R7PQj TIL the first webcam streaming was about a group of researchers making sure they always have coffee in the pot at their lab. The cam aired it from 1993 until 2001.
kOkae TIL that Naked Mole Rats effectively "turn into plants" in low oxygen situations by switching their metabolism from glucose to fructose, which was thought to be only used by plants.
VMxR4 TIL King of Prussia Frederick II to lure his subjects to grow and eat potato who at first refused to do so, ordered his soldiers to guard the fields but not too strictly and allow stealing. The peasants assuming the fruits must be very precious to be guarded, started growing and eating them.
4W8b TIL during WW2, Krystyna Skarbek became a British spy and smuggled intelligence reports and anti-tanks guns from Hungary to the Allies. When she was arrested by Gestapo, she bit her tongue hard enough to bleed and convinced them she had tuberculosis, which made them release her.