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TIL Loons are like airplanes in that they need a runway for takeoff. In the case of loons, they need from 30 yards up to a quarter-mile (depending on the wind) for flapping their wings and running across the top of the water in order to gain enough speed for lift-off.

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jNmmv TIL that in 1970 a grass roots organization known as the Committee to End Pay Toilets in America was launched by mathematician Ira Gessel due to his frustrations over public pay toilets'. He was largely successful in pressuring city councils, lik Chicagos to eliminate the condition to pay for relief
vPRQR TIL On Sept 1st 1857 New York had a parade to celebrate the first transatlantic telegraph cable. The project took four years to complete and the line failed later that month. It was not until 1866 when communications reopened after the third line was laid (the second line snapped at sea).
NXxyE TIL that the creator of Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan, had planned to kill off Jesse or Hank in the first season, as a "ballsy" moment to end the season on, but a screenwriters strike limited the production from nine to seven episodes and the death was eliminated with the limited episode count
4kyL6 TIL Mary the Color Scientist, a thought experiment, about a scientist in a black & white world, who has extensive knowledge of color but no actual experience of it. The experiment asks whether Mary will gain new knowledge when she goes outside of the colorless world and experiences seeing in color.
e0Ggg TIL: In the first few years of life, more than 1 million new neural connections form every second.