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TIL that the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night" was the opening line to an actual novel published in 1830, but runs on for another 51 words: "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which..."

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dDKej TIL about Charles Neil and his involvement in the Neil-Reynolds report. President Roosevelt sent Neil and James Reynolds to inspect reports of bad slaughterhouse conditions. Their report, which highlighted revolting issues with American meats, led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act.
rNVoy TIL in the 1960s, Cap'n Crunch cereal boxes came with whistles which coincidentally had the specific frequency (2600 hertz) required to exploit a vulnerability of in-band signaling enabling a phone to make free calls by entering an 'operator mode'.
M715a TIL that despite its cultural presence as the doomsday scenario, current models and estimates believe that a nuclear winter is not a realistic outcome following a nuclear war. One analysis said so many successive things would need to go wrong it was akin to a coin landing on heads 40 times straight
7RR7 TIL that until the 17th or 18th century, 880 lb birds lived in Madagascar. They were called Elephant Birds and were over ten feet tall.
6YXw TIL there was a small cave rumored to be entrance to Purgatory in Ireland for hundreds of years. It is unclear exactly what was in the cave since it has been closed for 400 years.