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TIL the Toyota War was the end phase of the Libyan-Chadian war where the Chadian army and its Toyota pickups destroyed 92 T-55 battle tanks, 33 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, and 784 soldiers while only losing 18 men and three trucks.

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ayV9 TIL the Ancient Romans had a method for choosing the best puppies out of a litter which involved surrounding a litter with an oil-soaked string and setting it on fire. The mother dog would jump over the ring of flames and rescue each puppy one by one, it was believed, in order of their merit.
GAMLN TIL that the last words of Terry Kath (guitarist and vocalist of Chicago) were:"What do you think I'm gonna do? Blow My Brains out?" Before he put a gun that still had a round in the chamber to his temple and pulled the trigger. 8 days before his 32nd birthday.
DQpoj TIL in 1966, the Doors’ were lacking material, and so Jim Morrison asked the other band members to write a song. That same night, guitarist Robby Krieger wrote a song and titled it “Light My Fire.” It became their first ever hit, spent 3 weeks at #1 on Billboard, and launched the band to stardom.
oXQW TIL Gene Wolfe, a mechanical engineer turned author known for science fiction and fantasy novels, developed the frying device that cooks Pringles potato chips.
kJ6k5 TIL the book on which the movie "The Exorcist" is based was initially a failure. The author lucked out when he was invited as a last-minute guest on late night show, The Dick Cavett Show. Subsequently, the book hit The New York Times best-seller list and was picked up by Warner Bros for the movie.