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TIL that during the American Civil War, the Union regularly cracked the Confederacy's coded messages because the Confederacy relied on a limited number of key phrases for encrypting their messages, one of which was "Complete Victory".

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yQw9w TIL in 2018 a ground service agent with no prior piloting experience (beyond playing flight simulators) stole a commercial plane and successfully executed barrel rolls and other stunts for more than an hour while having an emotional breakdown. He then intentionally crashed on a sparsely populated i
79vP TIL that Microsoft bought all the rights to a Corbis stock photo called Bliss, better known as the Windows XP default wallpaper, for over $100k, making it the second largest amount of money ever paid to a photographer for a single photograph at the time of sale.
Wk5vN TIL when Fiat introduced the 850 to the US market, they downsized the engine to just below 50 cubic inches in order to make it small enough to be exempt from emission standards, which only applied to 50 ci and larger engines.
4kXrb TIL about “teaser” stallions whose job it is to tell if a mare is ready for mating. He never gets to do the actual mating - the valuable stallion does. Kind owners sometimes give him a “consolation mare” to mate so he doesn't get sexually frustrated with his job.
GlWQ TIL that Polish prostitutes hang out in the forests surrounding Warsaw and because they are not taxed, those who cite prostitution as a profession are required to provide photos and client testimonials to tax authorities