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TIL that platinum was not known in Europe before the (re)discovery of the Americas. The first European reference to platinum appears in 1557 as a description of an unknown noble metal found between Darién and Mexico, "which no fire nor any Spanish artifice has yet been able to liquefy"

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WkNkY TIL During the American Revolution, an enslaved man was charged with treason and sentenced to hang. He argued that as a slave, he wasn't a citizen and couldn't commit treason against a government to which he owed no allegiance. He was subsequently pardoned.
PYDvn TIL before lending his song In Your Eyes to the film Say Anything, Peter Gabriel asked to see the movie. He was sent a copy, and Gabriel approved the use of his song, but said he was uneasy about the main character’s overdose at the end; the studio had mistakenly sent him the film Wired instead.
yVLkv TIL that getting water from a war zone (the DMZ) is approved by the South Korean military.
R7Rd8 TIL back when the NY subways used tokens, criminals would jam the slot and then suck out the token with their mouths. To discourage this, subway workers would put hot chili powder in the slots.
Mer6K TIL A secret message was engraved inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch by a jeweler, and it was not discovered until 2009.