› added 2 months ago

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TIL that when Mark Twain learned his story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County had a French translation, he had it translated word-for-word back into English.

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LkJMp TIL about the Controlled Impact Demonstration, where NASA and the FAA intentionally crashed a remote controlled Boeing 720 to gain data on a fuel additive that was believed to help suppress an airline fire in the event of a crash. The test ruled that this additive was ineffective.
epQY4 TIL Potbelly sandwich shop began as an antique store in Chicago. To boost foot traffic and sales, the owners began to sell sandwiches and toasted them with an old potbelly stove in the shop.
xPVg TIL Sting receives approx $2000 per day from royalties for the song ‘Every Breath You Take’ and also 100% of the royalties from the P-Diddy remix 'I’ll Be Missing You’
Z8BEa TIL that Leonardo Da Vinci invented ball bearings - a friction-reducing part without which no modern machinery would be possible
KLQ4 TIL Sir Francis Bacon, known for his phrase that “knowledge is power”, wrote the first book on the growing of terrestrial plants in a soilless environment. That practice would later become known as Hydroponics.