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TIL in 1955, a plaster buddha statue more than 600 years old was dropped during an attempt to move it to a new location. After some of the plaster coating was chipped off, it was revealed that the plaster was covering a statue made of solid gold.

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kOd97 TIL When billionaire Steve Fossett went missing during a solo plane flight where it was ultimately discovered he perished, the CAP, National Guard, and thousand of AMT volunteers found many other plane crash sites lost to time. Most (at the time) were not investigated further.
wLQJ8 TIL In 1793, The French government implemented a new calendar, based on decimals. It had 10 days per week, 10 hours per day, 100 minutes per hour and 100 seconds per minute. The experiment lasted 12 years, failing to gain wider acceptance.
Z8Nwo TIL in 1927, during the worst flood in the history of the Mississippi River Valley, Herbert Hoover and the Red Cross set up "concentration camps" comprised of African Americans forced to work at gunpoint on the levee, and created a media campaign to cover it up.
DQdbv TIL of the 2010 Sauna World Championship, in which two competitors needed rescuing from a 230°F sauna due to receiving burns to their skin and airways, resulting in the death of one of the competitors (also aided by his use of steroids and numbing agents to help him last longer in the sauna.
LkKOr TIL that in the 1990s, Las Vegas wanted to revitalize its downtown area. There was a plan to build a full scale replica of the USS Enterprise, with a bar and restaurant on top. Casinos were willing to pay for it and the city was onboard; a Paramount executive said no fearing it would be a failure.