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TIL Ohio has license plates reading “Birthplace of Aviation” and North Carolina reads “First in Flight” because the two states both claim the Wright Brothers as their own. The Wrights performed the first controlled, powered flight in Kitty Hawk, N.C. but built their plane in Ohio

by whatilearned March 18, 2023, 10:22 pm

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TIL the first traffic signal, erected in London in 1868, was powered by gas. A gas leak caused it to explode a month later.

by whatilearned January 29, 2023, 12:46 pm

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TIL about the Schienenzeppelin, a train powered by a rear-mounted propeller similar to a helicopter, capable of reaching 140 km/h (87 mph). Designed in 1930s Germany, it was intended to be a futuristic mode of transportation but never entered service due to technical issues and WWII

by whatilearned December 30, 2022, 10:29 pm

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TIL a predecessor to modern RFID technology was “The Thing” a wooden seal gifted to the US embassy in Moscow that was actually a listening device powered by radio waves from another location.

by whatilearned December 1, 2022, 7:55 pm

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TIL that in 1957 the US launched Project Pluto, a plan to design and build a “doomsday” cruise missile (SLAM) that would be nuclear powered and carry multiple hydrogen bombs, spreading radiation along its path from the engine. It was loud enough to kill people in its path with sound.

by whatilearned October 26, 2022, 8:51 pm

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TIL about La France (airship), the world’s first fully controlled flight. In 1884 the electric powered, hydrogen filled airship traveled an 8km round trip, successfully returning to it’s starting point.

by whatilearned October 6, 2022, 4:36 pm

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TIL the United States has purchased thousands of weapons’ worth of uranium from decommissioned Soviet nuclear weapons. It is estimated that one in ten lightbulbs in the US are powered by nuclear fuel removed from weapons formerly pointed at the US and its allies.

by whatilearned September 28, 2022, 2:43 am

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TIL in the first auto show in New York in 1899, every vehicle was electric with the exception of some steam powered cars.

by whatilearned July 20, 2022, 9:01 pm

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Because gas prices are so high I invented a car powered by talking.

by cringeyjokesman July 19, 2022, 3:13 pm

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TIL about the Qianli chuan (‘thousand league boat’), a human powered paddle wheel boat invented in the late 5th century AD during the Southern Qi Dynasty. The boats were able to cruise hundreds of kilometers per day with by humans peddling them. They were used as war ships and tug boats.

by whatilearned July 6, 2022, 6:05 pm

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TIL during WW2, Germany experimented with rocket powered submarines. They could reach underwater speeds of 28.1 knots (52.0 km/h; 32.3 mph).

by whatilearned July 5, 2022, 6:58 pm

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TIL that there is a power station in Greenwich which formerly powered London’s trams and is now the central emergency power supply for London Underground, in case of loss of power from the National Grid

by whatilearned July 3, 2022, 11:23 pm

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