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TIL about Philo Farnsworth, a farm boy from Idaho who, at just 14, conceived the idea for electronic television while plowing a field. Despite no formal training, his unexpected innovation laid the foundation for the technology that transformed communication and entertainment worldwide.

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lNja TIL In 1961, the US Government came up with a plan, coined Operation Plowshare, to use nuclear explosives for “peaceful construction purposes”. One proposal was to widen the Panama Canal by blasting it with those nuclear explosions.
E1gbp TIL Only one woman, Mary Edwards Walker, has received the Medal of Honor, and her award was temporarily rescinded.
9YevM TIL that lower-status individuals use more jargon when communicating. The behavior is described by scientists as "linguistic overcompensation ".
PYd6G TIL about Sabena Flight 548, which crashed on February 15, 1961 while en route to Brussels, Belgium from New York. All 72 souls aboard perished, including the entire U.S. Figure Skating team, who were traveling to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague.
R5gDw TIL Tolkien wanted to create what we would nowadays call a transmedia multiverse. "I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme. The cycles should be linked and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. Absurd."