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TIL the name “Scotland Yard” actually refers to a street in Westminster, London. During the 16th century, there were open courtyards in the Palace of Whitehall surrounded by buildings used by representatives of the Kingdom of Scotland.

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4aQb TIL Tim Duncan grew up in the US Virgin Islands where he was gearing up for the 1992 Olympics as a competitive swimmer until Hurricane Hugo destroyed the island’s only Olympic-sized pool. The only alternative was to swim in the ocean, and Duncan was afraid of sharks, so he turned to basketball.
0dAZ1 TIL that Agave - the source of all tequila - is a member of the Asparagus family
R7OJ6 TIL in 1920, a young woman in Germany was found with no identification and processed as “Miss Unknown" who, later, claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov of Russia. Later, the true Anastasia’s uncle found out that she was Franziska Schanzkowska, a Polish munitions factory worker.
40na TIL: From having lived and worked in China, President Herbert Hoover and his wife were fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and would frequently have conversations in the language to prevent their staff from eavesdropping.
rNBvW TIL the US House of Representatives and the British/Irish House of Commons used to play matches of chess against each other via telegraph