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TIL that Coca-Cola never patented their "secret formula" because otherwise they would be required to disclose it to the public.

grvLW TIL Oliver Smoot, whose body was used to measure Boston's Harvard Bridge as part of an MIT fraternity prank in 1958, went on to become the chairman of the American National Standards Institute and the president of the International Organization for Standardization.
4XpZo TIL that, despite having the largest US alligator population, it has been more than 200 years since the first and last Louisianan died to an alligator.
EgvoP TIL in 2023 a teenager attending a Danish prince's birthday party at the palace intentionally left her shoe behind, hoping for an ending à la Cinderella. Later, the palace posted a picture of the shoe on Instagram. Part of the caption translates to: "Is it Cinderella who forgot her shoe last night?"
W7Re4 TIL that in pre-Roman Sardinia, whenever elderly people were no longer able to support themselves, they were given a neurotoxic plant called "Sardonic Herb" and then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death. The term "sardonic grin" comes from the facial expression they had after their death.
Vvx4 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