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TIL General Motors used live animals as crash test dummies up until 1993 and once received a letter “so mean it ended up in the hands of the FBI”.

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via reddit.com

P1mbO TIL that the remains at the archaeological site of the oldest known wooden-built structure (think log cabin style) are thought to be from 476,000 years ago. Kalambo Structure, Kalambo Falls, Lake Tanganyika, southeast Africa.
n1GG TIL Maurice Ward invented a material called Starlite, which could withstand temperatures over 10,000 C. Ward was so protective of his formula that he took it to his grave in 2011 and scientists still do not know the composition of the material.
rRarx TIL Brad Pitt agreed to do a brief cameo in Deadpool 2 for just the daily minimum rate (less than $1000 per day) plus a cup of coffee hand delivered by Ryan Reynolds.
N79D8 TIL of Major Francis Harvey VC who after being mortally wounded and losing both legs during the Battle Of Jutland crawled to a voice pipe to order the burning magazine sealed and flooded, saving the HMS Lion and its 1000 sailors from being destroyed in a magazine explosion
EgbdV TIL about Carbidshieten "Carbide Shooting", a Dutch New Years Eve tradition of using carbide + water in a makeshift basketball cannons. Similar to potato guns.