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TIL: After WW2, the Allies discovered meticulous plans for a Sun Gun by the Nazis. Planned by renowned Nazi Scientist Hermann Oberth, it was a .62 mile mirror attached to a space station to burn cities and evaporate oceans estimated to take 15 years to build. He later joined NASA.

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6EGyw TIL that a rattlesnakes rattler is made from skin shed during molting. They start with one “button” (which is made of the same material as our fingernails), and add each time it molts.
D1kYr TIL that when Buddy Holly died, he had $193 cash on him. The Coroner kept $11.65 of it for his fee...
41m5 TIL William James Sidis had an IQ that was believed to be between 250 and 300. At eighteen months old he could read The New York Times, at two he taught himself Latin, at three he learned Greek. By the time he was an adult he could speak more than forty languages and dialects.
DQ00e TIL that when writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl originally intended for Charlie to be black, but his agent thought it was a bad idea and made him turn Charlie white.
PYbOg TIL that Ivan the Terrible of Russia had a bodyguard corps that wore black clothing and rode black horses. They also had a severed dogs head attached to their saddles, using them to “sniff out” treason. Due to the lack of taxidermy, a constant supply of fresh heads was needed.