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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

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N71a6 TIL the U.S. has a region nicknamed "Cancer Alley" where 150+ petrochemical plants operate. Cancer rates there are 53.33% higher than the national average.
8aP9G TIL that the genesis is still being manufactured in Brazil and sells about 150,000 consoles per year
9YlLB TIL that Michael Connor Humphreys, who played Forest Gump as teenager, was initially supposed to learn how to talk like Tom Hanks. Hearing this, Hanks sat down with Humphreys and decided that he would talk in Humphreys Mississippi accent instead. He still has tapes of him and Humphreys practicing.
wLn7 TIL that a baboon named Fu Manchu repeatedly escaped from his cage at the zoo using a key he had fashioned from a piece of wire. Every time his zookeepers inspected him, he hid the key in his mouth.
l8L5 TIL that the use of the phrase “Checkmate” is a mispronunciation of the original Persian, “ Shäh mät!”, which means the king is helpless