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TIL While researching service dogs for a novel, Dean Koontz was so taken with Canine Companions for Independence he made donations totaling $2.5 million. As a gift, CCI gave him a serivce dog, which he named Trixie. Trixie Koontz became his pen name when he writes books from a canine perspecitve.

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MeWDm TIL there are limestone mines beneath Paris that became an ossuary and final resting place for over six million people. During a cholera outbreak in the 1800’s over 170,000 people were hastily dumped in the catacombs and covered with quick lime to remove the flesh.
E15mV TIL that SR-71 Blackbird ,the fastest manned aircraft ever doesn't have a fuel tank ,the fuel is stored in the body of the aircraft itself (for savin weight) ,the body has seams and gaps so the fuel leaks while it isn't flying. The engineers expect the pressure at higher altitudes to close the gaps.
VMoWG TIL par-cooking sweet potatoes in water between 135 and 170°F (57 and 77°C) activates an enzyme that converts their starch into Maltese. Making them extra sweet
N7dbb TIL of a French soldier called Tarrare, who could eat a meal intended for 15 people in a single sitting, ate live cats, snakes, lizards and puppies. He would also sweat profusely and had an odor that was described as “fetid beyond all conception”.
BAab TIL that Australian aborigines have stories that tell of events from the last glacial maximum (21,000 years ago) when Australia and Indonesia were connected by a vast land bridge. These stories are some of the oldest extant repositories of human knowledge.