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TIL in 1963 Wendell Scott became to first African American to win a Nascar Race. Though being two laps ahead of the other cars, was ignored because the winner was to kiss a white beauty queen. He was awarded the trophy in 2010, 20 years after his death. (More in Comments).

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rJoM TIL Two paragliders were sucked into a thunderstorm during practice. The updraft was so powerful that one pilot was sucked up to 19,000 feet and killed by a lightning strike. The pilot of the second glider passed out from the altitude, but woke up still airborne and covered in ice.
ne4Jo TIL of Centralia, PA: A town mostly abandoned since an underground mine fire started in 1962 and still burns to this day. In 2002 the town had its zip code revoked after the graves started burning. The EPA warns: “Walking and/or driving in the immediate area could result in serious injury or death.”
OalX TIL the word hexadecimal should really be sexadecimal (proper latin) or hexadecadic (proper greek) but hexadecimal was used so that computer hackers wouldn’t abbreviate it as “sex”.
LBKr TIL that in ancient Rome the punishment for parricide, killing one’s own parent(s), was to be whipped repeatedly and then sewn up in a leather sack along with a serpent, a dog, a rooster and a monkey. The sack was then thrown into a river.
4XYya TIL that in 1974, Fleetwood Mac's manager Clifford Davis assembled an entirely seperate group of musicians to take the mantle and name of the band after the original members declined to go on tour. The new band would go on tour, but audience members noticed the imposters, and refunds were requested.