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TIL the helicopter used during the US operation that killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011 that crashed was a stealth helicopter that was never known to publicly exist before

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gMYrD TIL that some especially poignant scenes in Greek tragedy were written in "catalectic trochaic tetrameter." It's the same rhythm as the song "Oh My Darling, Clementine."
JY48Q TIL that Boris Pasternak (the author or Doctor Zhivago) was almost killed in the great purge, 20 years before he wrote his famous novel. He was only saved at the last moment when Stalin himself crossed his name off the list with the note "leave that fool alone".
w1d7 TIL that January was named after Janus, the Roman God with two faces - one that looks back to the past and the other that looks forward to the future.
gMoDA TIL ants can teach each other in a way that both the instructor and the student modify their behavior to benefit the other.
4XJOJ TIL sugar can twist light, and has been used in calibrating instruments that detect the rotation of light.