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TIL that the first aircraft autopilot was developed in 1912. The autopilot connected a gyroscopic heading indicator and attitude indicator to hydraulically operated elevators and rudder. It permitted the aircraft to fly straight and level on a compass course without a pilot's attention

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yg7V TIL women were not the first choice as telephone operators. Prior to September 1, 1878, when a woman named Emma Nutt became the first female operator, boys were the preferred choice. It soon became apparent, however, that boys would insult, curse at, and prank the customers.
G9kg TIL that a Greek prime minister in 1830’s tried to spread the potato in Greece but people weren’t interested so he put armed guards in front of shipments of potatoes so people would think they were important. People later started stealing these potatoes a lot which spread the crop to all of Greece.
m8rx TIL that in the 50s & 60s the American gov forcibly removed Native American children from their parents and put them up for adoption or into institutions, in order to have them assimilate into “white culture”.
KWwR TIL that giant anteaters do not produce any stomach acid. Instead, the combined sting venom (formic acid) found in all of the ants it eats is used to digest the prey once it is ground up and swallowed - the ants are digested in their own venom.
o9Po TIL a year after Benjamin Franklin conducted his lightning experiment, a man named Georg Richmann attempted to conduct his own lightning experiment and was killed.