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TIL The BEANO T-13 hand grenade was an experimental hand grenade developed by the OSS in the later years of WWII. The designers believed that by emulating the size and weight of a baseball, any American young man should be able to properly throw the grenade with both accuracy and distance.

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wL1QE TIL NASA had a moon race scare when the Zond 5 crew capable spacecraft was sent around the moon (September 1968) and returned to Earth. Voices of 3 cosmonauts were heard from the spacecraft discussing telemetry and even a landing attempt. The craft had no crew and the transmission was faked.
kOv84 TIL According to the EPA, a smoke alarm in your house gives you about the same annual radiation dose as living within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant.
X0M9k TIL that during his first election, John Nance Garner was opposed in the primary by Mariette Rheiner. Following Garner's win in the primaries, the two began dating and married in 1895. Mariette went on to serve as Second Lady of the United States during her husband's tenure as vice president.
XEgDj TIL : Koro the phobia of losing one's penis is triggered by rumors of genital disappearance supposedly caused in China by female fox spirits, in Singapore and Thailand by mass poisoning, and in Africa by sorcery, usually in the context of socioeconomic or political tension.
ANNbo TIL of Paparokades. A rock band formed by a group of Greek priests in the mid 90s in order to boost tourism to their monastery.