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287

TIL that Eli Whitney’s cotton gin is short for “cotton engine”.

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W7e8o TIL in 1942, the US War Production Board ordered California’s entire wine grape crop to be made into raisins instead (for their value as non-perishable snacks)
P96Z TIL that in 1959 a pilot ejected from his plane directly into a violent thunder cloud. The storm winds kept him aloft for 40 minutes, pelting him with hailstones and so much rain that at times he had to hold his breath to keep from drowning in mid-air.
kwwW TIL U.S. Presidents and science Nobel Laureates were found to be overwhelmingly first-borns, as were 21 of the first 23 NASA astronauts
m1mEv TIL that Henry Ford refused for years to make any significant improvements to the Model T. When his designers surprised him with a new prototype, he destroyed it in front of them with his bare hands.
PYAge TIL With one working arm, numerous facial wounds, and 8 of his crew dead or critically wounded, B-17 Pilot Lt. William R Lawley managed to fly his crippled plane one-handed all the way back to England, where he made a miraculous landing that saved the lives of all surviving crew members