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TIL a B26 Marauder named Flak Bait flew the most WWII combat missions of any plane, 207 over the course of 2 years, 130 of which were piloted by Lt. James J. Farrell. It was hit by enemy fire constantly but repaired and put back in the air. The name came from Farrell's dog, nicknamed Flea Bait.

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KOP4G TIL that In 1971, a high school student, Juliane Koepcke was flying over the Peruvian rainforest with her mother when her plane was hit by lightning. She survived a two-mile fall and found herself alone in the jungle, to then endure a 10-day walk to the nearest civilization.
NXbV1 TIL that it wasn’t until 1970 that the exclamation point consistently had its own key on most typewriter keyboards! If your typewriter didn't have one, the convention was to type a period, then go back and type an apostrophe above it!
wgWY TIL that to study wind currents, the US Navy sprayed San Francisco with S. marcescens, thought to be a non-pathogenic bacterium. Doctors soon noted drastic increases in pneumonia and urinary tract infections.
nWmGY TIL while trying to perform a magic trick to amuse his children, Isambard Kingdom Brunel (generally cited as one of the most important engineers ever) inhaled a coin which stuck in his windpipe. After a machine Brunel devised failed, his father proposed turning him upside-down, dislodging the coin.
KPDw TIL That Chattanooga Choo Choo was the first single in 15 years to sell 1 million copies, and RCA Victor gave Glenn Miller the first gold record as a reward.