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TIL of Helias Doundoulakis, the man who patented the suspension system for the Arecibo telescope, was a spy for the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during WW2.

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mD5y TIL that Abraham Lincoln suffered from a lifelong “melancholy,” a condition we now call clinical depression. His suffering was so severe, that his community had to put him under a “suicide watch.”
OOYY TIL That the man responsible for leaded petrol, Tomas Midgley Jr, “had more impact on the environment than any other single organism in Earth’s history”
Yp7kW TIL that bars in Philadelphia used to have "piss troughs" at the base so that gentlemen could micturate without needing to get off of the barstool.
oAm7 TIL Disney was planning on making a short film featuring Mickey Mouse as Christopher Colombus discovering America. It got cancelled because the animation team was unsure how to animate the native people Mickey would have to encounter in a non-offensive way.
Rxx8 TIL: In 2011 drug cartel kidnapped hundreds of innocent bus passengers in Mexico and made them fight to death like gladiators. The survivors would be informed of new purpose in life as assassins for gang.