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TIL that King Louis XIV lived and ruled so long (72 yrs) that he is not only the longest reigning ruler of Europe, but his successor, Louis XV, was neither his son, nor his grandson, but his great-grandson.

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w8lJ TIL: in 1984, a ball of lightning burned a hole into a Soviet passenger airliner mid-flight, then vanished with a bang. It reappeared moments later in the passenger area (floating above their heads), split into two crescent shapes, then finally rejoined and burned a new exit hole to leave the plane.
x4dD TIL a 4chan prank resulted in VH1’s Save the Music program donating $10,000 to buy musical instruments for Boston’s Horace Mann School for the Deaf.
a45o TIL there is a legend that flexible glass was invented around 20AD, when a craftsman presented Tiberius Caesar a bowl of this glass, whereupon he threw it to the ground and it did not shatter. Fearing the implications of such a material, the Caesar had the man beheaded, the formula now lost forever.
ByW TIL actor Vin Diesel has been a devoted Dungeons & Dragons player for over 20 years.
ANapd TIL: Einstein designed an unworkable wing airfoil based on a flawed knowledge of how wings work