› added 10 years ago

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TIL the Nazis were so short on supplies and parts towards the end of the war, they were using landing gear from crashed American bombers for their new planes.

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Oorbe TIL: Phosphorus was discoverd when alchemist Hennig Brand who was experimenting with urine attempted to create the fabled philosopher's stone through the distillation of some salts by evaporating urine, and in the process produced a white material that glowed in the dark and burned brilliantly.
LQ6Gm TIL that the avian magnetic compass of the European Robin has been extensively researched and uses vision-based magnetoreception, in which the Robin's ability to sense the magnetic field of the earth for navigation is affected by the light entering the bird's eye.
b91xa TIL the uneven terrain of Nagasaki served as a natural buffer in the bombing, even though the "Fat Man" bomb had a 23 kiloton explosion yield, which is more than the explosion yield of "Little Boy" that is 13 kilotons, the bombing did not cause as much damage as the bombing in Hiroshima.
m1Pmx TIL of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company which manufactured luxury vehicles from 1901 to 1938, including the 1928 Fleet Housecar, a early RV.
jXyM TIL Racing stripes were originally used to help drivers realign a spun out car with the road