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TIL that REO Speedwagon was a real automobile brand (1915)

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wLaY8 TIL that the word "jaywalker" was invented by automobile manufacturers and enthusiasts from the word "jay" which was then slang for country bumpkin or rube. Earliest uses actually referred to "jay drivers," but automobile interests successfully transitioned the blame to pedestrians.
rN7yy TIL that Agent Orange has afflicted three million Vietnamese people, at least 150,000 of whom were born with severe birth abnormalities. Between 1961 and 1971, U.S. forces sprayed a class of color-coded herbicides across Vietnam's rural environment, including Agent Orange, to damage food crops.
Mj87 TIL that due to the high intelligence and strong family ties of elephants, some researchers argue it is morally wrong for humans to cull them.
VMWgm TIL of Betteridge's law of headlines - "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no".
9bRr TIL that in WWII the Soviets used captured Germans and fake radio messages to convince the Nazis of a large German armed group stranded behind Soviet lines. The Nazis kept sending airdrops and rescue missions, which the Soviets would promptly capture and force to participate in the illusion