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TIL that an English inventor named Maurice Ward (1933-2011) invented a thermal shielding material called Starlite which was able to withstand extreme heat (10000 degrees C), but never revealed its composition in fear of reverse engineering and losing control of rights to the material.

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y8xJ TIL Sacha Baron Cohen was nominated for an award in Kazakhstan for his role in Borat. According to the president , “He had raised the profile of the country to a level once thought impossible”.
wogGE TIL the antechinus is a small, mouse-like marsupial from Australia. During mating season, the male engages in frenzied 12-hour mating marathons with multiple females, pushing his body to the brink. The stress is so extreme that it often leads to organ failure and death shortly afterward.
p8Mye TIL If you have an IGA near you and have noticed how localized or regional the offerings are its becasue they're not a chain store like most other grocers. All IGAs are independently owned and run solely by their independent owner.. There are locations in 30 different countries!
WkPP4 TIL of the four recorded deaths by killer whales three of them were by the same killer whale named Tilikum.
nWPk9 TIL Central African Republic leader, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, spent years looking for his long-lost daughter Martine, whom he fathered while serving in Vietnam. The first "Martine” was exposed as a fraud when the real Martine was found. Bokassa accepted both as his daughters and adopted the fake Martine.