› added 4 years ago

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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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xVdn0 TIL about 'The Uncensored Library', a Minecraft map that allows journalists in countries with strict press laws to share materials with a worldwide audience. The articles from these journalists are presented inside craftable books.
8aP5P TIL that in 2009, British PM Gordon Brown hand-wrote a letter of condolence to a mother whose son had died in Afghanistan, in which he misspelled the son's surname. The Sun (a tabloid) wrote a scathing article criticizing his mistake. In this article, the paper misspelled the same name.
5V97D TIL embalming was popularized in the United States by the need to transport the bodies of Civil War soldiers home for burial and especially by the display and transport of Abraham Lincoln's body after his assassination.
rrvW TIL that VISA and MasterCard both started as not-for-profits and only turned in for-profits in 2006-2008
16b6D TIL that the film Top Gun: Maverick was actively supported and influenced by the United States Department of Defense and the United States Navy to present the U.S. military in a positive light and aid in recruitment and retention.