› added 6 months ago

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TIL that a British-born man from San Francisco named Joshua Norton declared himself "Emperor of the United States" in 1859.

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kEb7 TIL Folk-hero John Henry (who according to legend, beat a steam drill in a tunnel-digging contest, and who died soon after from exhaustion), may have actually been a real person.
AgNn TIL a space time capsule has been proposed that would carry messages from the citizens of present Earth to humanity 50,000 years from now, when it would re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.
D1n0v TIL that the Boeing 747 prototype had a consistent problem with engines randomly exploding. The test pilot took the president of the engine manufacturer for a ride and blew up engines one by one until he was nervously asked told to stop. The problem was promptly fixed.
69MJX TIL Earths Geographical North Pole is actually earths Southern Magnetic Pole.
e0EmL TIL: During the 14th century ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to sit at anchor for 40 days. This practice is where we get the word "quarantine" from the Italian "quaranta" meaning "forty"