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TIL In Greek mythology Theseus encountered a bandit named Sinis who would kill travelers by having them help him bend pine trees to the ground, after which he would let go causing them to be catapulted to their deaths.

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rNRdW TIL that your pupils dilate and constrict if you just think about things that are bright and dark, rather than see light. They also change size in response to arousal and effort, and pupil size could determine if someone has aphantasia.
gMgNA TIL of the SS Richard Montgomery: a US WWII ship carrying munitions, grounded 2.4km from Sheerness, UK in 1944, and broken in two by the weight of the bombs on board. An estimated 1,400 tonnes of explosives remain on board the ship. It is monitored constantly & protected by a 500m exclusion zone.
opPW TIL that DARPA has created a drug that eliminates sleepiness. When tested on monkeys with sleep deprivation, the drug made them cognitively alert as well-rested monkeys. With no apparent side affects.
rR9M4 TIL Pure water, a fluid of strictly H2O, is an excellent insulator and will not conduct electricity due to its neutral particles. Only the introduction of impurities like trace metals with negatively or positively charged particles makes water an excellent, if not deadly, conductor of electricity.
vP06R TIL John Ratzenberger came up with the Cheer’s character Cliff Clavin at his audition (for another part). On his way out the door he asked the producers if they had a bar ‘know it all’ and proceeded to improv the idea on the spot. They wrote it into the show.