› added 7 years ago

109

TIL Thomas Paine enlisted and briefly served as a privateer, which was basically a state sanctioned pirate.

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5Gg9 TIL Helium is a non-renewable resource, the US used to stockpile it, and we may run out eventually
D1AZp TIL the Arizona Gazette ran a front page article in 1909 on two "Smithsonian-funded archaeologists" who discovered a massive underground cave city beneath the Grand Canyon. The city allegedly contained Egyptian hieroglyphics, mummies, and a Buddha-like statue. The Smithsonian refutes the claims.
GANNJ TIL Glock, known for their firearms, also has a passion for horse breeding
PDKO TIL that before his death, Phil Hartman had expressed an interest in making a live action film about his popular Simpsons character Troy McClure. Many of The Simpsons production staff expressed enthusiasm for the project and offered to help.
b9A97 TIL: Mansa Musa was an African Muslim king, whose 4,000-mile trip to Mecca accompanied by a caravan of 60,000 people and thousands of servants. Historians believe that he is the richest man in the worlds history - with an inflation-adjusted fortune, his wealth amounts to around $400 billion today.