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TIL the heat a spacecraft faces on reentry isn’t generated by simple friction but rather by ram pressure - the fast-moving shuttle compresses the air in front of it, forming a massive shock zone in which air molecules ionize and break apart.

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ep0Jn TIL that the Mandarin Chinese equivalent of the phrase "speak of the devil" is "shuo Cao Cao, Cao Cao dao," or "speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao appears," referencing the 3rd century warlord and statesman Cao Cao.
bMVQ TIL a 35 year-old gold miner, using only hand tools and dynamite, moved 5,800 tons of granite, building a half-mile tunnel to move his ore. He finished the project at age 67.
oBBQR TIL that in 2005, an interactive real-world game called Perplex City was created. It featured different puzzle cards and was solved in 2007. However, one card remains unsolved. Card #256 shows a picture of a man with the message: "Find me." No one has found him to this day.
bkQ9 TIL Mackinac Island, MI has banned motorized vehicles for over a hundred years. Most travel by horse-drawn carriages or bikes.
nW5Nd TIL hookers were named after General Hooker during the Civil War.