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TIL If Britain were a U.S. state, it would be the second-poorest, behind Alabama and before Mississippi

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GLJN TIL that Monsanto, the biotechnology company known for their GMO foods and seeds, was also one of the leading producers of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War
5Yrv9 TIL in 1979 when the Skylab re-entry approached the San Francisco Examine offered $10,000 to the first person to deliver a piece to them within 72hrs knowing it wasn't heading toward the USA. A 17yr old Aussie collected a piece, jumped on a plane with no passport or luggage and collected his prize.
XY7D TIL The ZIP in ZIP Code stands for Zone Improvement Plan
neoRB TIL, that few days after Chernobyl disaster, all children in Poland were given Lugol's iodine. This was one of the few cases, when Polish communist government, despite official denials of the Soviet side and against their recommendations, took action in the best interest of their own citizens.
7rEax TIL in 1917 the Aerowagon experimental high-speed railcar used an aircraft engine and propeller traction to go 140 kph (87mph) to carry Soviet officials. In 1921 officials successfully went from Moscow to Tula. On return it derailed at high speed killing 6 of 22 on board including the inventor.