Today I Learned (TIL)

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You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? Submit interesting and specific facts about something that you just found out here.

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TIL during World War II, Allied prisoners of war in Colditz Castle built a full-size glider plane in the attic. The plan was to cut a hole in the roof from the attic and then fly the plane to safe... (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 2 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/1000LiveEels on 2024-12-21 07:39:18+00:00.

Original Title: TIL during World War II, Allied prisoners of war in Colditz Castle built a full-size glider plane in the attic. The plan was to cut a hole in the roof from the attic and then fly the plane to safety. It never flew, but it was completed shortly before the POWs were liberated.

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TIL in 2006 Iran banned sale of The Economist magazine because it published a map labelling the Persian Gulf simply as Gulf (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 2 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/BadenBaden1981 on 2024-12-21 07:38:22+00:00.

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TIL that New Kids on the Block, widely considered the first breakout boy band, was created by music executive Maurice Starr as a "white alternative" to the R&B group New Edition. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 2 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/altrightobserver on 2024-12-21 06:03:57+00:00.

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TIL that Elvis Presley released two dozen albums and over one hundred singles yet wrote no lyrics for any of them. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 2 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/altrightobserver on 2024-12-21 05:48:24+00:00.

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TIL that Lanai - the sixth largest Hawaiian Island - is 98% owned by a single individual, billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 6 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/NapalmBurns on 2024-12-21 02:22:50+00:00.

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TIL that in 1956, IBM released it's first "hard drive" called RAMAC—short for Random Access Method of Accounting And Control—which held less than 5 megabytes of storage and occupied an entire room... (www.backblaze.com)
submitted 6 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/WouldbeWanderer on 2024-12-21 02:18:42+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that in 1956, IBM released it's first "hard drive" called RAMAC—short for Random Access Method of Accounting And Control—which held less than 5 megabytes of storage and occupied an entire room. RAMAC was leased for $3,200 a month, the equivalent of $28,000 in 2016.

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TIL Andre the Giant and Haystacks Calhoun once went to an all-you-can-eat restaurant together (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 6 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/malektewaus on 2024-12-21 04:29:55+00:00.

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TIL that Walt Disney referred to the opening day of Disneyland as “Black Sunday.” The temperature was 101 °F (38 °C), people with counterfeit tickets flooded the park, the water fountains didn’t w... (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 6 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/GetYerHandOffMyPen15 on 2024-12-21 03:57:09+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that Walt Disney referred to the opening day of Disneyland as “Black Sunday.” The temperature was 101 °F (38 °C), people with counterfeit tickets flooded the park, the water fountains didn’t work, women’s shoes sunk into the asphalt, and people hurled their children over crowds to get on rides.

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TIL That in 1992, a man named William Brennan, a cashier, walked out of the Stardust Casino in Vegas with 500k+ in stolen cash and chips. He and the money were never found, and he was removed from... (news3lv.com)
submitted 6 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/CreeperRussS on 2024-12-21 03:56:03+00:00.

Original Title: TIL That in 1992, a man named William Brennan, a cashier, walked out of the Stardust Casino in Vegas with 500k+ in stolen cash and chips. He and the money were never found, and he was removed from the FBI's Most Wanted list in 2006 when Stardust was closed.

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TIl that Jesus had brothers (and sisters too) (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 6 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/CalypsoTheKitty on 2024-12-21 02:01:10+00:00.

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TIL there are ferries designed to transport entire railcars. Train Ferries allow for passenger and freight trains to directly roll on/off the ship from rails. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 12 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Durfsurn on 2024-12-20 22:46:51+00:00.

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TIL that rapper DMX had 15 children with nine different mothers, and died without a will. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 12 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/GetYerHandOffMyPen15 on 2024-12-20 22:20:11+00:00.

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TIL on the May 9, 1969, episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers asked Officer Clemmons, a black policeman played by François Clemmons, if he'd like to cool his feet with Rogers in a child's... (www.biography.com)
submitted 12 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/BiggieTwiggy1two3 on 2024-12-20 22:02:33+00:00.

Original Title: TIL on the May 9, 1969, episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers asked Officer Clemmons, a black policeman played by François Clemmons, if he'd like to cool his feet with Rogers in a child's pool. Clemmons accepted after Rogers offered to share his towel too. Most pools were still segregated.

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TIL up to 85% of stars exist in solar systems made up of two or more stars (www.space.com)
submitted 14 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/letseatnudels on 2024-12-20 19:32:40+00:00.

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TIL that the idea that caffeine makes you dehydrated is largely a myth (www.npr.org)
submitted 12 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/SwordfishOk504 on 2024-12-20 23:13:22+00:00.

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TIL during the filming of Gladiator, Oliver Reed (who played Proximo) died in a bar after challenging a group of sailors to a drinking contest. Some of his scenes had to be finished with CGI. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 12 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/watanabelover69 on 2024-12-20 22:07:03+00:00.

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TIL John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) was made on a $300,000 budget and grossed $70 million worldwide, making it one of the most profitable independent films ever made. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 14 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ObjectiveAd6551 on 2024-12-20 19:42:34+00:00.

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TIL the anime streaming platform Crunchyroll was first launched as an anime pirating site, and even received venture capital funding while it still allowed uploads of unlicensed content to the site. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 14 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/bruhvevo on 2024-12-20 19:50:46+00:00.

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TIL Peter Pan was originally a 6 year old sociopath with a knack for killing. (youtu.be)
submitted 14 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/RandoEncounter on 2024-12-20 19:15:58+00:00.

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TIL the song “Hello ma Baby” from the old cartoons was the first popular song about the telephone and was about a man dating a lady over the phone without having ever met her (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 17 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/hillo538 on 2024-12-20 17:28:08+00:00.

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TIL Poland's cities of Warsaw and Poznan utilize teams of live mollusks to detect impurities in drinking water at 50 discrete water treatment plants. When 4 or more mussels are detected to have cl... (boingboing.net)
submitted 19 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Wordsworth_Little on 2024-12-20 16:12:12+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Poland's cities of Warsaw and Poznan utilize teams of live mollusks to detect impurities in drinking water at 50 discrete water treatment plants. When 4 or more mussels are detected to have closed (using magnetic sensors) the water supply shuts off.

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TIL in 2010 a two-tonne hippo escaped from a Montenegro zoo during a flood. After wandering around nearby farms for 10 days, she returned to her pen on her own accord. Her keepers had been keeping... (news.bbc.co.uk)
submitted 20 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2024-12-20 14:55:31+00:00.

Original Title: TIL in 2010 a two-tonne hippo escaped from a Montenegro zoo during a flood. After wandering around nearby farms for 10 days, she returned to her pen on her own accord. Her keepers had been keeping a close eye on her, giving her food when she came close to the zoo & covering her with hay at night.

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TIL that in 1990 Volvo nearly destroyed its reputation in the US with a staged ad campaign in which they claimed their cars could not be crushed by a Monster Truck. The Volvo had been reinforced a... (www.theautopian.com)
submitted 17 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/FiredFox on 2024-12-20 17:55:12+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that in 1990 Volvo nearly destroyed its reputation in the US with a staged ad campaign in which they claimed their cars could not be crushed by a Monster Truck. The Volvo had been reinforced and the other cars weakened for the stunt.

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TIL in March of ‘62, during development for the B-58 Hustler, a black bear named Yogi became the first living being to survive a supersonic ejection. (www.thisdayinaviation.com)
submitted 20 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/FxckFxntxnyl on 2024-12-20 14:29:45+00:00.

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TIL that in 2003, a 14-year-old boy in Manchester, England, created fake online personas to manipulate his friend into attempting to murder him, resulting in the UK's first conviction for inciting... (www.unilad.com)
submitted 18 hours ago by bot@lemmit.online to c/todayilearned@lemmit.online
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/NoWafer5247 on 2024-12-20 16:50:48+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that in 2003, a 14-year-old boy in Manchester, England, created fake online personas to manipulate his friend into attempting to murder him, resulting in the UK's first conviction for inciting your own murder.

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