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TIL Yakisugi (burnt cypress) is a traditional Japanese building material. Made by heating cypress boards until the cellulose burns off, it is more fireproof, waterproof, and resistant to insects than ordinary wood

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EBBw TIL when monkeys were taught the concept of money, it resulted in the first recorded incident of monkey prostitution.
yVQow TIL the founder of Reuters News Agency, Paul Rauter, signed a 1872 contract with the Shah of Iran where Paul gained private control over Iran's roads, telegraphs, mills, factories, and other public works. Lord Curzon claimed it was the most control a person has ever gained over a country's resources
Z889Q TIL in 2013, Lufthansa offered to their Swedish customers the chance to live rent free in Berlin for a year if they legally changed their name to "Klaus Heidi". 42 Swedes did.
kLaB TIL when Buddy Holly died, his pregnant wife first got the news through the TV, and the shock caused her miscarriage.
mxBlp TIL that Britain's worst nuclear accident, would have been much worse, were it not for Sir John Douglas Cockcroft. Whom insisted on installing filters onto the exhaust shaft of the Windscale Nuclear Power Plant. When the accident happened the radioactive dust was reduced by 95%.