› added 1 year ago

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TIL that in 1983 instead of taking Marvel to court for "hundreds of thousands of dollars" for plagiarizing his short story "Soldier from Tomorrow", Harlan Ellison settled w/ EIC Jim Shooter for a lifetime subscription to everything Marvel ever published.

ANPy7 TIL Lucy Hester Stanhope (1776-1839), a British adventurer and archaeologist, discovered a 7-foot tall Greco-Roman statue which she then smashed into pieces and tossed into the Mediterranean because she wanted to prove to the Ottoman government that she had no interest in stealing their antiquities.
vPj4 TIL there was a version of Superman created where Superman was raised in the Soviet Union
8alZL TIL about the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. Tobacco companies will pay States based off of their tobacco sales volume. In return, the States will grant Tobacco companies immunity from any death or injury related lawsuits. This also created the Truth Initiative.
W79Ao TIL that in 2021, before a Quebec City family-run shoe store closed, which had operated since 1936, a hidden door was found behind a shelving unit. Upon opening the door, the family discovered rows and rows of boxes of shoes that were manufactured sometime around the 1960s.
XEOv8 TIL that Polynesians may have traveled to the Americas in pre-columbian times. Sweet potatoes originated from the Americas were found in the islands when Cpt. Cook discovered them. The Maori word for sweet potato "kumala" is almost the same as the Quechuan's word "k'umara" for sweet potato.