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TIL that due to an intense shift to wartime production, America only produced 139 civilian automobiles throughout the Second World War.

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wBjP TIL that asthma inhalers containing ozone damaging CFCs were banned in 2008 in spite of their small environmental impact. Drug companies have greatly benefited from the ban because they can change more for HFA inhalers that are still patented. The drug has not changed, only the delivery mechanism.
gMel4 TIL that the most expensive manuscript in existence is the Codex Leicester, a notebook written by Leonardo Da Vinci. When adjusted for inflation, it is worth $53 million and is currently owned by Bill Gates. The original Book of Mormon and a Letter from Zeng Gong to his friend follow in 2nd and 3rd.
YpGKP TIL about Aki Ra. A man who has personally cleared 50,000 land mines by hand with minimal equipment.
VMvJm TIL the only full copy of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series (featuring Bill Mazeroski's famous walk-off home run) is from a recording on Bing Crosby's TV. Crosby co-owned the Pittsburgh Pirates and believed he was a jinx, so he hired a company to record the game on his TV while he listened from Paris.
pjeb TIL: A Electrician built a motorcycle out of a car to escape the Sahara desert.