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TIL in 1975 Australia had a government shutdown. In the end, all the members of Parliament were fired and then elections were held to restart from scratch. They haven’t had another shutdown since….

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5Y9PD TIL that Cambridge University Library's 17-storey tower holds one million banished books that were considered 'not academic enough' and is now a literary time capsule and treasure trove for researchers.
BgEnK TIL Mexico is named after its capital Mexico City, not the other way around.
8adyb TIL that Doane Robinson, the historian who came up with the idea for Mount Rushmore, initially didn't want it to feature former presidents. Robinson wanted sculptures of Lewis and Clark, Buffalo Bill Cody, Chief Red Cloud and other Sioux warriors but the sculptor refused to focus on regional heroes
p8aEA TIL in 1951, 650 British soldiers were being overwhelmed by 10,000 Chinese. When an American general asked for a status update, a brigadier responded "things are a bit sticky down there." No help was sent and almost all of the troops were killed because the general did not get the understatement.
WkVnL TIL the word mile originates from the measurement of one thousand paces of a Roman soldier (mille passus)