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TIL Japan in WWII launched over 9,000 balloon bombs that were carried across the Pacific Ocean by the jet stream. The bombs killed 6 people, started forest fires, and one traveled as far East as Farmington, Michigan. The balloons were made of paper.

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wo8WM TIL: Confederate General Patrick Cleburne proposed recruiting slaves to fight for them and granting their freedom as a reward, arguing this would strengthen the confederacy. The idea was quickly shot down after facing strong opposition from other confederate leaders.
5ogR TIL that Leonardo Da Vinci could draw forward with one hand while writing backward with the other.
oBQBY TIL in 1996, NASA established the Breakthrough Propulsion Physics program in order to research propulsion that requires no propellant mass. Topics of interest include experiments and theories regarding gravity and electromagnetism, vacuum energy, warp drives and worm-holes and quantum effects.
M7G9a TIL that almost any violation of the Texas Transportation Code is an arrestable offense, even if the violation carries no punishment other than a fine. The only three exceptions are a) speeding, b) having an open container of alcohol in your car, and c) texting while driving.
L5nr TIL the Ten commandments quoted by most people aren’t the ten commandments carved into the stone tablets by Moses according to the Bible. The actual Ten Commandments contain gems such as “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk” and “The first offspring of every womb belongs to me.”