› added 4 years ago

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TIL that Canberra was chosen to be the capital of Australia because neither Melbourne or Sydney would accept its rival as the permanent national capital.

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8a9YX TIL about a fatal submarine accident from 1963. A nuclear sub, the USS Thresher (SSN-593), sank 610 m (2,000 ft) imploding in 0.1 seconds killing all 128 crew members. During a failed deep dive test, its theorized the sub lost power and its vital ballast systems froze, rendering the ship unusable.
eA75 TIL Robert Taylor, inventor of soap-in-a-pump-bottle (Softsoap), knew larger competitors like Colgate would try to copy his product. In order to ensure they couldn’t copy him, he bought every small bottle hand-pump (100 million bottles) in the US. This resulted in a year of the market to himself
78dJO TIL in 1968 the pilot of a Japan Airlines flight from Tokyo to San Francisco accidentally landed the plane in the ocean just over 2 miles short of the runway. All 107 passengers survived with no injuries. The plane was recovered with only minor damage and was returned to service a year later.
e0KWE TIL: Research shows that people who buy electric cars prefer for their cars to look strange, indicating a big factor in picking out an electric car is the desire that everyone notices your car is an electric car.
wLQK6 TIL The gas bags inside hydrogen airships of the 1930s were made from the outer layer of a cow’s intestines. Joined together when wet, the living tissues grow together, creating an impermeable bond. The gas bags of the Graf Zeppelin were made from the guts of around half a million cows.