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TIL at Area 51 Loads of paints and solvents used to make the Stealth bomber and other classified aircraft were set on fire in trenches causing clouds of poisonous smoke for laborers. The smoke resulted in respiratory illness, cancers and rashes. The official response was nothing happened at Area 51

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vZ4L TIL that there is a rare sleeping disorder called Kleine–Levin syndrome that causes people to sleep for weeks at a time waking only to eat or go to the bathroom
D6XP TIL: The US Department of Defense pays the NFL for propaganda
1a9Bd TIL in 1997 the second highest rated Chess player in America was a prisoner who played largely through letter correspondence. He was accused of inflating his rating by fixing matches against other inmates, and briefly escaped prison after bolting when permitted to attend a chess tournament.
RO1l TIL of 15 year-old World War One Royal Navy officer Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave, having survived being torpedoed on three different ships within one hour, all of which sunk, swimming to each after abandonment of the last. Musgrave went on to survive the war and live a full life until 1989.
DQgWp TIL the record for the longest name ever used was held by a German-American man. The name is so long it can't fit in this title but was abbreviated as Hubert B. Wolfe + 666 Sr. The name has its origins in his Great-Grandfather's sarcastic response to a law mandating German Jews take a second name.