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TIL that right after the French finished building the Suez Canal, a British Commander snuck his ship to the head of the opening fleet at night so his would be the first one through. The Admiralty gave him an official reprimand, an unofficial vote of thanks, and a promotion.

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gMXEX TIL - That using a cell phone at a gas station can cause a fire or explosion is a common urban legend, and has never happened anywhere in the world. Experts believe it to be impossible as no-one has been able to successfully create a fire or explosion by using a cell phone while fueling a car.
gMnLy TIL that in 1995, Dutch electronics engineer Jan Sloot claimed to have invented a data sharing system that could store a complete movie in eight kilobytes; he died one day before signing a deal, and despite months of searching, the system's compiler program has never been found.
9wJEQ TIL there was debate about World Trade Center land ownership/control when it came time to rebuild (See 3:30)
R7Zll TIL Donald Duck is an extremely popular pop-icon in Germany, where you can buy his comics at most newsstands. In their version, Donald uses a highly sophisticated level of language and "many Germans credit him with having initiated them into the language of the literary classics".
xZQ5 TIL Florida Man Carl Tanzler, an X-ray tech, fell in love with a patient and exhumed her body when she died to sleep with her corpse for 7 years. Charges were dropped because the statue of limitations expired by the time anyone found out.