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TIL Transparent aluminum, the sci-fi material concocted in Star Trek IV as a lighter material to use for tank glass, is now actually a real thing and lives up to the sci-fi hype.

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J1yrQ TIL that because the period (.) was already in use in France to make Roman numerals more readable, they adopted, along with many other countries, commas to separate numbers and decimals (9.99 vs 9,99)
x6Veg TIL author H.G. Wells married his cousin in 1891. The couple later separated when H.G. Wells fell in love with one of his students, Amy Catherine Robbins. This entire period was the most productive in H.G. Wells' whole writing career producing The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, among others.
8apvK TIL “Chicago” means “skunk land”
pYYvA TIL Kenneth Branagh is the only person to have ever been nominated for seven different Academy Award categories including director, actor, and adapted screenplay
awWG0 TIL: Viruses can live up to 18 days on steel, but only one on denim cloth. University of Iowa research