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TIL That in 1774 James Cook charted Sandy Island off the coast of New Caledonia. Despite its' inclusion in official maps and charts for over two centuries in 2012 an Australian survey vessel proved the island had never actually existed and may have been a 'pumice raft' floating in the area.

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OGxA6 TIL that in 1900, a physician named Jesse William Lazear wanted to prove that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes. He allowed an infected mosquito to bite him, and he became infected with yellow fever, proving the hypothesis correct. He died 17 days later.
EZd7 TIL Robert E. Lee not only considered slavery a moral & political evil, but his wife and daughter set up an illegal school for slaves at their Arlington plantation.
GYxY5 TIL that China has a strategic pork reserve of over 10,000 tonnes of frozen pork and has been eating it since Swine Fever hit the industry.
6E5JJ TIL there is a small, insignificant church in Cumbria, UK, that has a 500 year old bell, inscribed with text from a language that died almost 1000 years before the bell was made. The meaning is unknown.
7rMPb TIL after being traded since 1961, Pork Bellies were de-listed from the stock exchange in 2011 due to low trading volumes. Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice is on the verge of being de-listed too.