› added 10 years ago

417

TIL that in order to obtain the vast amounts of titanium needed for the construction of the SR-71, the CIA created fake companies throughout the world to purchase the metal from the biggest supplier, the USSR.

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via reddit.com

xv1w TIL the flavour “Blackcurrant” is largely unknown to people in The United States, due to a ban on the berry in the early 1900s.
mx0Jo TIL that soon after Bill Gates had gone to start Microsoft, a Harvard professor who had worked with him recalled, "He had moved to Albuquerque... to run a small company writing code for microprocessors, of all things. I remember thinking: 'Such a brilliant kid. What a waste.'"
5V7VQ TIL that from the 10 biggest cities in the world (by population), only 3 are not located in Asia continent
VABG TIL, the AAA (U.S. auto club) lobbies government AGAINST mass transit, alternative fuels, and other methods
0arR TIL of William Adams, the first Westerner to be officially given the title of “samurai” by the Shogun of Japan, renamed Miura Anjin.