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TIL that President Herbert Hoover who resided over the beginning of the Great Depression had never once been elected to a government office before becoming President of the United States.

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696ZY TIL a film director who faced a two-year prison sentence for animal cruelty in his movie was exonerated after props made by special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi were exhibited in the courtroom. Rambaldi went on to win three Oscars for his work in King Kong, Alien and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
yVdkl TIL that having a small amount of insulation on a cylinder (like a pipe or water heater) can actually make it lose heat faster than if it were entirely uninsulated. This is known as the critical thickness of insulation. Having more than the critical thickness makes the heat transfer rate go down.
D1ogY TIL of a bacterium that does photosynthesis without sunlight. Instead it uses thermal "black-body" radiation. It was discovered in 2005 on a deep-sea hydrothermal vent, at a depth of 2400 m, in complete darkness.
69Yd7 TIL that in 1922, a conductorless orchestra modelled on Marxist ideas formed in the Soviet Union. A committee decided tempos and playing styles. However, they found tempo changes difficult due to not having a leader to guide them, and were disbanded 10 years later by Stalin.
xVJxw TIL of Usama ibn Munqidh, a Syrian poet and diplomat whose life coincided with the First and Second Crusades, and who became acquainted with leaders of the Crusader states, the Knights Templar even clearing their HQ chapel for him to pray towards Mecca.