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TIL John Travolta owned a Boeing 707 which he donated to Australian Aviation Museum this year

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P01L TIL that the main reason for such a high percentage of Americans being behind bars is that 95% of cases never get to court. The “plea bargain” exchanges lighter sentences for guilty pleas, but eliminates all chance of appeal.
d8XRd TIL in 1941, the world's largest seed bank (created by botanist Nikolai Vavilov) was housed in Leningrad. As the Germans surrounded the city causing massive starvation, Vavilov's scientists refused to eat from the collection, slowly dying of hunger as they maintained 16 rooms of edible plants.
d888K TIL That in the 1700’s, tomatoes were thought to be poisonous because people died after eating them. The real issue was people using pewter plates and the acidity of tomatoes leached lead out of them causing lead poisoning
gxL TIL Down Syndrome males are sterile (aside from one documented case)
rRM6M TIL of Parrondo's paradox. In Game A you lose $1 each turn you play. In Game B you count how much you have left; if an even amount you win $3 else you lose $5. Begin w/ $100. Play Game A or B & you'll lose all in 100 turns. But try Game B followed by A, then B etc & you'll win $2 every two games