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TIL that Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter, suffered huge losses after a fire broke out in his woodworking shop that made furniture. He descended into bankruptcy & decided to start making small wood items, including toys. He even renamed his company to 'leg godt' ('play well') or Lego.

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wLvjW TIL of Gaius Marius, who eliminated the requirement for Roman soldiers to be landowners. Thereafter, Rome's legions largely consisted of poor citizens who became extremely loyal to their commanders. Ultimately, this was highly significant for Caesar and Rome's transformation from Republic to Empire.
D1M9P TIL Lincoln University in Pennsylvania became the first degree-granting institution of higher education for African Americans. It paved the way for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
E1NZ7 TIL The communal chatter of snapping shrimp colonies on the ocean floor created enough white noise that the U.S. Navy successfully hid submarines near them during WWII, avoiding detection by underwater Japanese hydrophones.
ZReB TIL ABC has been cutting scenes from “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, a movie about the excessive commercialization of Christmas, to make room for more commercials.
LDmv TIL A tribe of Asian pygmies called the Taron are purposely letting themselves go extinct. They are a pure and isolated race, but inbreeding has caused deformities and mental issues that have prompted their decision to die out and have thusly dwindled down to 12.