› added 9 months ago

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TIL until the 1980’s, US television stations would sign off at the end of the broadcasting day, and before they cut to static for the rest of the night, they would often play short clips of American landmarks and US military imagery in a patriotic montage accompanied by the star spangled banner.

5DxB TIL of Obsidian. A volcanic glass so sharp, many surgeons prefer obsidian to surgical steel
8elEa TIL of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 which crashed into terrain on September 11, 1974, killing 72. Among them was the VP for academic affairs of the Medical University of South Carolina and two of his sons - the father and brothers of future tv personality Stephen Colbert.
Z9Ov TIL Police respond to complaints about a building sustaining damage from what appeared to be a minor earthquake. When they arrived, they found Nikola Tesla smashing his oscillator to shut it off.
6EYAW TIL Fireflies are the most efficient lights in the world. 100% of energy is emitted as light. Fireflies: larvae & eggs glow, talk to each other with light, imitate each other, then eat other fireflies, are on almost every continent, taste bad, are medically and scientifically useful, adults live<1mo
X0Xrr TIL that the real name of the actor we all know as Boris Karloff - famous for playing Frankenstein's monster (his 82nd role by the way!) - was William Henry Pratt, and he elected to act under a pseudonym so as not to embarass his well known, well connected and almost aristocratic English family.