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TIL American WW2 airplanes were sent to war unpainted starting in 1943. The polished surface made the planes faster and lighter, giving more range to all planes and more cargo hold for the bombers

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v508 TIL the Greek name for the Mosquito is Anopheles, translating to “good-for-nothing”
RYL1 TIL Texas Instruments has a near monopoly on the graphing calculator field, with over 90% of the sales. Due to this the base model specs and price have not changed in 10 years.
rR69M TIL about mental health: after 83,000 brain scans, Dr. Daniel Amen says the most important lesson learned is that many people have problems with their brain, but a lot of them can be easily fixed if scanned and treated, rather than blindly prescribing intense medication
p8XB4 TIL in ancient Korea, rice was used as currency and to pay taxes. A rice payment law was even put in place during the 1600s which mandated collecting rice for state taxes. Consumption of rice was mostly limited to those from a higher socioeconomic status during this time.
p8RWe TIL about "Black Sunday", Disneyland's disastrous opening day. Asphalt poured that morning melted in the 101 °F weather, counterfeit tickets added 3x the park's capacity, a plumbers' strike forced Walt to choose running toilets over water fountains, vendors ran out of food, rides were hijacked, etc.