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TIL By law, each person in Switzerland is entitled to a place of shelter underground.

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YpA1W TIL that in 1964, three physicists who just got their PhDs were tasked with developing a working design for a nuclear weapon using only unclassified information. The goal is to see if a country can develop a nuclear weapon without aid. They accomplished it within 2 and a half years.
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.
LkR1d TIL that the 2 countries that are ranked least democratic on the democracy index are named The Democratic Republic of the Congo and The Democratic People's Republic of Korea
N1rN TIL Al-Jazari, a 12th-century Kurdish polymath, invented the crankshaft, piston engine, valve, cam, mechanical clock, combination lock, hydropower driven water supply system, and the first programmable humanoid robot. Leonardo Da Vinci was inspired by his work.
Oxla TIL that most bamboo species flower only once every several decades, but when they do, all of the bamboo from the same group flower at the same time, regardless of where they are planted.