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TIL In 1710, famous author Jonathan Swift wrote an article on "the continual Corruption of our English Tongue" in which he described the word "bamboozle" as one of the words that were in his opinion, "corroding, if not destroying, the English language"

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4XJOJ TIL sugar can twist light, and has been used in calibrating instruments that detect the rotation of light.
MeNja TIL Peter McCathie survived being hit by lightning when he was a teenager and now he’s won the lottery — both events combined come to about a 1 in 2.6 trillion chance.
PYKpZ TIL Iowa Man Tyler Heep won $1.00 from a scratch-off, drove to Lottery Headquarters, and demanded a gigantic novelty check. They wrote him out an oversized check and had him hold it up for a photo in a room set up with a camera and the Lottery logo. Heep used his winnings to buy 1/2 a gallon of gas.
9YvLp TIL that the British sent ships and men to the US at the start of WWII to protect us from German U-boats. One ship sank and all 37 men on-board died. Only 4 washed up on shore. A special "British Cemetery" was created and it is leased in perpetuity to England so the men are at rest on British soil
Lk9yZ TIL prior to the 20th century, saltwater crocodiles could grow to enormous sizes of about 7 meters (23ft) in length, with a weight of 2000 kg (4400 lb), thanks to the presence of particular genes in their gene pool, which no longer exist due to extensive hunting.