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TIL that in 1965 University of Florida football coach Ray Graves asked some scientists at the school to develop a drink to help hydrate his players. They created the drink, and two years later the Florida Gators won their first Sugar Bowl. It helped the Gators and was called Gatoraid because of it.

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j6pgj TIL Strapped for cash, the Shah of Persia once agreed to sell effectively his country's entire infrastructure to Paul Reuter(founder of Reuter's). Deemed "the most complete surrender of the entire industrial resources of a kingdom ever", it was rejected by the british, who found it too excessive
E1QNx TIL penguin poop will change Antartica's ecosystem. For the last 5,000 years, penguins have delivered roughly 16 million pounds of nutrient rich poop on the rocks of Antartica. This poop can one day support plants and animals which currently can't survive in Antartica.
m14bo TIL webcams were first invented in 1993 as a way to check for coffee at Cambridge University
6ExJJ TIL that in 1969, the charity Save The Children, funded and hired director Ken Loach to film a documentary about the charity. Loach laid bare the hypocrisy and colonial attitudes he saw at the heart of the charity. Save The Children banned the documentary for 42 years, finally showing it in 2011.
JYD94 TIL John Astin, the actor who played Gomez in the original sitcom The Addams Family, had pockets lined with asbestos. His character often pulled lit cigars out of his suit pockets, thus the need to line the jacket pockets with the deadly flame retardant