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TIL: “Shrek” means ‘fright’ in Yiddish

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Vvx4 TIL During WWII they developed an ultra long range fighter to escort bomber raids in the Pacific…by joining two heavily modified P-51 Mustangs with one single wing. It still holds the record for longest flight of a piston powered fighter, after flying more than 5000 miles from Hawaii to New York
M7ArW TIL of a plant called Welwitschia, a living fossil, which existed before South America split from Africa (200m years ago), can live more than 2000 years and keeps the same two leaves its entire life.
rRWvd TIL prior to 1963 it was not uncommon for students in the US to be required to read from The Bible as part of their elementary education. A lawsuit that went all the way to the Supreme Court, ended the practice that year.
J18KV TIL: the 1/4" jack or the 'guitar cord jack' is the oldest connector-type still used. It was the standard for the original phone switchboards.
XE71Q TIL that on a small field outside of the town of Cromwell in the South Island of New Zealand is a beetle called the Cromwell Chafer (Prodontria lewisi). The beetle is found nowhere else on the planet. The entire species can be found on a 81 hectare nature reserve.