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TIL that the second fastest manmade object was a 2,000 lb steel plate cap covering a borehole for a nuclear blast. It's estimated that it reached speeds above 150,000 mph, almost 200 times the speed of sound. It most likely vaporized due to friction with the atmosphere before it could reach space.

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wkQ7 TIL of Betty Anne Waters, a woman who become a lawyer and spent 16 years trying to free her brother from an undeserved life sentence - and succeeded
8epbL TIL Dutch artist Francis Alÿs pushed a block of ice around Mexico City for 9 hours to symbolize the frustration that everyday residents of Mexico City endure in an effort to improve their living conditions
nb5B TIL that the Welsh language is spoken natively in two places: Wales and Argentina. Wales had established a colony in Argentina in 1865 to protect their native culture and language.
xaa0 TIL that in the German version of Die Hard, all the terrorists are given English names.
ANoWl TIL the six Tongan castaways were able to keep a fire burning continuously for more than 12 of the 15 months they spent marooned on a deserted island in 1965 after one of the boys named Stephen (who would go on to become an engineer), had managed to use two sticks to start one.