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TIL of Soda locomotive, a fireless locomotive that ran on sodium hydroxide. When steam came in contact with the sodium hydroxide, it would generate enough heat to actually run the boiler and generate more steam and propel the locomotive forward.

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OGabX TIL hippos have a reflex mechanism that allows them to pop up, take a breath, and go back down without waking up so they can sleep underwater.
4XN9g TIL National Geographic started delivering its magazines in a paper rather than plastic wrapper, saving more than 2.5 million single-use plastic bags every month. They also challenged all their international partners to get rid of plastic wrappers by end of 2019
eDmJ TIL garbage collectors in NYC make $144,000/yr, up from $79,000 a decade ago.
BrPvb TIL that at least 3 astronauts in the Challenger disaster were conscious till the cabin hit the water approximately 3 mins after the breakup. 2 astronauts activated their air providers, while one of them activated it for the pilot Michael J. Smith, who was trying to restore power by moving switches.
oRRaR TIL the largest U.S. loss of life at sea was the HMS Rohna. This was hidden by the US to prevent the Nazis from knowing their remote guided missiles were effective.