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TIL: Chlorate candles are used on submarie and in space to generate oxygen by burning a mix of sodium chlorate and iron powder. They have an indefinite shelf life and are surprisingly safe.

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7rkAp TIL The “XXX” signifies how many times the moonshine batch had been run through the still. Three X’s indicated that it had been run through three times and that the shine was pure alcohol.
QJkoL TIL An Army dentist drilled the message "Remember Pearl Harbor" in Morse code inside Gen. Hideki Tojo's dentures while the general was imprisoned in occupied Japan for war crimes.
e0VKJ TIL that the smell of the air after a storm is caused by Geosmin: A chemical released by dead soil bacteria. Humans are hyper sensitive to it, capable of detecting at a concentration of 5 parts per trillion. It's theorised in our evolutionary past this helped us seek out water.
11eX TIL there is a mosquito used in biological pest control because its young eat other mosquito larvae. It is called the Elephant mosquito due to its size, and the adults feed on nectar, not blood.
aveo TIL the Bank of Oklahoma building in Tulsa, OK is a half-size replica of the World Trade Center buildings. It was designed by the same architect, and completed 3 years after WTC.