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TIL of the "Wolfram Crisis" - a WW2 diplomatic conflict between Spain and Allied powers - starving Nazi military industrial complex of tungsten was so important, UK and USA had to forcefully coerce Spain to stop its exports of the metal to Germany

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BAWe TIL The wife of L. Ron Hubbard consulted doctors who recommended he “be committed to a private sanatorium for psychiatric observation and treatment of a mental ailment known as paranoid schizophrenia.” Thereafter, Hubbard criticised psychiatry as a “barbaric and corrupt profession”.
b9pZQ TIL That simple brambles are master trappers that can kill animals and absorb the nutrients from their corpses. A Protocarnivorous plant.
VBRYQ TIL Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was the first man to die during a space-flight. He volunteered to pilot a hastily built and fatally flawed spacecraft alone in order to save the life of the man who would replace him if he refused — his close friend and first man in space, Yuri Gagarin
0dR5p TIL Thomas L. Jennings invented dry cleaning and was the first African-American patent holder in history when it was granted in 1821. He then invested his earnings into the Abolitionist movement.
Eg5oV TIL the mechanical shark in Jaws (1975) broke down repeatedly, often sinking or falling apart. As a result, it was only shown 4 minutes on-screen, forcing Spielberg to rely on suspense tactics like POV shots and John Williams’ iconic score. This “failure” made the film scarier by hiding the shark.