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TIL that only the outer layer of tree trunks are alive. The center of the trunk is technically dead but it will not decay or lose strength while the outer layers are intact. A piece of the dead core 12" long and 1" by 2" in cross section set vertically can support a weight of twenty tons.

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VMNO4 TIL that in 1937, Colorado National Guard used flamethrowers and explosives against a plague of locusts
QJNOe TIL telling ghost stories was a Victorian Christmas tradition that has largely disappeared but survives in "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and "A Christmas Carol"
awjab TIL that "the day the music died" in the song American Pie is the literal day when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash.
KOe1G TIL in 2011 the Chevrolet Volt topped Consumer Reports' ranking of vehicles with the most owners who would buy one again - 93% would. Next year the car got that honor again, with 92% of owners who would buy one again.
pMap TIL the German public was unaware of the relationship between Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun until after World War II.