› added 6 months ago

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TIL that the WW2 American naval fighter, the F4U "Corsair" had a unique solution for slowing down during steep descents: Its landing gear bay doors could double as airbrakes! This was an intentional component of its design.

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b9yw7 TIL that butterflies and bees need salt to survive, so they sometimes drink the tears of crocodilians such as caimans and other animals in regions where the mineral is scarce.
4rWo TIL the organisers of the 2012 London Olympics contacted The Who’s manager to ask if Keith Moon would play at the opening ceremony. He died in 1978.
x6Bxw TIL that between August 1960 and April 1961, the CIA, with the help of the Mafia, pursued a series of plots to poison or shoot Fidel Castro.
506B TIL Bread goes stale 6x faster in the fridge than at room temperature
pX1G TIL microbiologist Raul Cano, successfully revived yeast that had been stuck in amber for 25 million years. He then co-founded a brewery that uses the same 45 million-year-old species of yeast to brew beer.