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TIL that David Hahn, the "Radioactive Boy Scout" was arrested in 2007 when someone saw him stealing a smoke detector. A search of his apartment found 16 more. Smoke detectors were one of the items he used to get the radioactive material to build the breeder reactor in his mom's shed in 1994.

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YrZ TIL that during World War Two a German plane landed at a British airfield thinking it was a German one.
o0VE TIL When flown at half-staff, the American flag should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position
YpJdr TIL Ian Fleming named his character "Goldfinger" after the stern architect Ernő Goldfinger, whom he despised. When Ernő filed a suit over the name, Fleming threatened to rename the character "Goldprick". Ernő dropped the suit in exchange for legal fees and six copies of the book.
yJ4v TIL: The first legal slave owner in what would become the United States was a black man
r6D1 TIL that Gearbox Software dedicated an entire achievement and a NPC in their hit game Borderlands 2 to Michael Mamaril, a huge fan of the game who passed away at the age of 22 due to a terminal illness.