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TIL a WWII German fighter aircraft, the BF-109, had a unique weapon design - cannon which was installed in the engine and fired through the propeller hub

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pY1nO TIL Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Academy Award (Gone with the Wind, 1939), was not allowed to attend the film’s premiere in Atlanta, had to sit at a segregated table at the Oscars, and was denied her final request to be buried at Hollywood Cemetery when she died in 1952.
R7n4w TIL James Smithson sent the US $500,000 (1.5% the federal budget) in the 19C to found an institution "for the creation and diffusion of knowledge." The Smithsonian is today the world's largest museum complex; all are free of charge and open to the public, and James Smithson never visited the US.
Oo1k6 TIL the Irish word for jellyfish, smugairle róin, translates literally as 'seal snot'.
wojP1 TIL That Sonar used by Naval ships is a billion times louder than a jet engine at 230db. Its also audible (in the water) for hundreds of miles, and is lethal when swimming underwater, even hundreds of feet away from the source.
wLLP1 TIL that King Tutankhamen's Tomb May Have Hidden Spaces Containing Organic, Metallic Materials