› added 9 years ago

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TIL that unexplained crystalline formations known as “tin whiskers” grow from most metals and cause electronics to fail. Nobody understands how they form.

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awXRJ TIL of the Orangutan Opening, a chess opening so named because the grandmaster Tartakower "consulted" an orangutan at a zoo the day before a tournament game, who "somehow indicated, Tartakower insisted, that he should open with b4".
4wL6 TIL the top speed of the Bugatti Veyron is limited not by the engine, but rather its tires exploding.
RGA1 TIL a Japanese man imprisoned after the Fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War said that when he got out in 1988 there were still 5 American POWs in the prison he was in
wXPE TIL that if you commit suicide in Japan by jumping in front of a train, the company will charge the family a disruption fee.
16kw7 TIL 'zombie fires' are fires that burned during the summer, stay underground all winter long and pop up above the surface again in the spring.