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5

TIL that powered flight has independently evolved four times in history: in bats, birds, pterosaurs, and insects.

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Z80DR TIL in 1995 an inmate filed a US$5 million lawsuit against himself. He claimed that he violated his own civil rights by getting arrested. He then asked the state to pay because he had no income in jail.
awNn9 TIL Billionaire Howard Hughes was badly injured in a plane crash in 1946. Unsatisfied with his hospital bed, Hughes had a team of engineers design a custom bed comprised of six sections, operated by 30 electric motors with push-button adjustments- this became a prototype for the modern hospital bed.
9YKyr TIL in 1857 Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as Canada’s capital because it was the midpoint between Toronto & Montreal thus a political compromise between English speaking & French speaking Canada
w68M TIL of the Copsey Brothers who were the first men to build a jail in Lower Lake, Ca, the first to occupy it, after celebrating its completion too enthusiastically, and the first to escape, after realizing they had forgotten to nail down the roof.
9YrQM TIL the Fox broadcast network (also known as FOX) and 20th Century Fox TV refused to air/produce South Park respectively due to the show having the talking poo character Mr. Hankey. Comedy Central instead bought the series, which was largely credited with putting the once-low network "on the map".