Post * 69QEl — Curious Curator

› added 1 year ago

54

TIL of Africa, Ohio, USA, the only town in the world named after the Underground Railroad, the series of networks to help slaves escape Southern US slave states. The name is derived from a mocking comment from a pro-slavery neighbor referring to the the community of escaped slaves there as Africa.

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KgkG TIL 45 American politicians have been assassinated, with Democrats suffering 19 losses compared to the Republican’s 8

nWnXd TIL that cardiovascular diseases cause an estimated 17.9 million deaths per year, most often (4 out of 5) through heart attack and stroke. One third of these deaths occur prematurely, or under the age of 70.

ngrr TIL the director of M.A.S.H. had his 14-year-old son write a song for a scene because it needed to be “the stupidest song ever written.” His son wrote it in 5 minutes. It became the theme. The director earned $70,000 for directing the movie; by 1980 his son had earned over $1 million from the song.

pY7YN TIL : Wayne Gretzky's stats were so far ahead of his peers' that if you cut his entire career number in half he's still one of the top 20 players of all time.

awk60 TIL that Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador, spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture in his country. He was murdered by unidentified gunmen while celebrating Mass. He was later declared a saint by Pope Francis.