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TIL the earliest known toy trains were made in the 1850s and powered by alcohol fires and real steam. They had the tendency to start house fires due to their fuel leaking and igniting when the toy fell over. Earlier models had no safety valves and would explode due to excess boiler pressure.

xWdg TIL: At a church gathering in 1870, a bishop said, “Man has invented everything that can be invented.” Someone challenged it, “I think man will learn to fly.” Bishop called it Blasphemy, “Flight is reserved for birds and angels”. That bishop was Milton Wright, father of Wilbur and Orville.
QjWX TIL: Julian Assange was willing to go to Sweden to answer allegations. All he wanted was a guarantee he wouldn’t be handed over to the United States. Sweden refused.
Y7aXA TIL JP Morgan bailed out banks in 1907 but a severe recession occured anyway. Nelson Aldrich, a powerful senator with close ties to Morgan, led a mission to Europe in 1908 to study the workings of the central banks in England, France and Germany. The Federal Reserve was created a short time later
kJG77 TIL about Genghis Khan’s Baljuna Covenant which was a cross-tribal alliance that brought together a very diverse group of people and leaders—even from enemy factions—and is considered a truly heterogeneous masterpiece of diplomacy and warfare.
mxxMY TIL out of the 5 major nuclear powers (NPT): US, UK, France, Russia and China, only China has pledged a 'No First Use' policy whereas the other four have agreed to reserve the right to use nuclear first-strikes as defensive deterrents.