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TIL in 1896, Bill Crush orchestrated the spectacle of smashing two trains into each other completely on purpose. Although no one was within 200 yards of the impact, the explosion from the steam engines killed two spectators and injured more. The event was considered a big PR and financial success.

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Ob9Y TIL during the Great Smog in London, 1952, visibility was so poor that pedestrians were helped through the streets by the blind.
8a7mG TIL that the Hershey Company runs a free private boarding school for underprivileged students. The endowment is backed by the full faith and credit of The Hershey Company and every part of the student experience from athletics to college visits is paid for by The Hershey Company
Y1Vd TIL that most mermaid “sightings” were most likely manatees, dugongs, or Steller’s sea cows. In fact, Christopher Columbus spotted 3 manatees near the Dominican Republic and would later write that mermaids are “not half as beautiful as they are painted.”
yVVRa TIL that there is strong evidence the US sent residents back to the bikini atol post testing of nuclear weapons as it "affords the opportunity for a most valuable ecological radiation study on human beings ..." the relocation resulted in many premature deaths and disabilities in newborns.
Ooy6a TIL In North Korea western films are only available at private showings to high-ranking Party members, although the 1997 film Titanic is frequently shown to university students as an example of Western culture