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TIL that in 1942, a US Navy Captain successfully sank a German U-Boat off the Louisiana coast. The Navy disbelieved his report because he “hadn’t received anti-submarine training” and reprimanded him and his crew for what they presumed must have been a “sloppy” attack. He was removed from command.

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e0rQL TIL the term "shoddy" comes from the Civil War when in their rush for uniforms the Union bought ones made from a recycled wool product called shoddy. When it fell apart in rain or after a couple of weeks wear it quickly became synonymous among the troops with poor quality and workmanship.
xRm5 TIL of the Permian Mass Extinction where 96% of species died out. All life on Earth is descended from the 4% that survived.
W77X4 TIL 99.9% of the human body is made of just 11 elements
b91Oj TIL sea mussels use organometallic iron-based bonds in their cuticles. Simulating this feature in synthetic replicas increased tensile strength 58x, toughness 92x, resistance to being deformed elastically 770x, and increased the amount of stress required to permanently damage them 76x.
MVvW TIL that there was a Hutt jedi in Star Wars who would later turn to the darkside