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TIL So-called 'gut strings' for acoustic Spanish guitars were originally made from the small intestines of slaughtered sheep. The production material only changed - to nylon - during World War II, when all available gut was used in the production of surgical thread for wounded soldiers.

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16wZX TIL=Plastic has become such a central component of modern life, it has found its way into our Earth's crust itself, becoming a geological marker. But there's an upside: The plastic is so obvious in the Earth's crust, it gives an exact timetable for when that layer of ground became solid Earth.
Vv6m TIL mountain goats are not actually goats, but members of the Antelope family
v1nZ8 TIL In 1969, a group of researchers trained cockroaches to race, built them a transparent case and 'invited' other cockroaches as an audience. Those 'racers' who had their species looking at them were able to race faster than those without.
No7Q TIL legendary daredevil Evel Knievel was sacked from his first job with a mining company after attempting to wheelie a bulldozer but ending up careening into power lines and knocking out the local town’s electricity supply.
rN4lM TIL of the world's longest humanitarian airlift, which provided supplies during the Siege of Sarajevo between 3 July 1992 and 9 January 1996