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TIL that a rancher in Oregon named Bill Brown would often write checks on any paper available. This often included soup can labels and newspaper margins. As he was rich and known for this, the banks would cash the checks without question.

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momo TIL Australian Phil Baker was walking on the beach while waiting to meet his son, Benji for the first time in 13 years. Phil saw a kayaker in trouble. He dove into the ocean and carried the half-conscious man to shore. The man turned out to be Benji
Al54 TIL in 1986 an actual ‘cloud of death’ swept through an area of Cameroon, suddenly asphyxiating everything in its path, including 4 villages, 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock
VMrX8 TIL that, on occupation of Khojaly 613 of peaceful population, as well as 63 children, 106 women, 70 old people were murdered wildly with tortures in a night. Their heads were cut off, the eyes were pricked out, the bellies of the pregnants were pricked by bayonet.
dDvmQ TIL that in 1885 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used 300,000 pounds of explosives to annihilate Flood Rock island in New York City's East River as part of clearing Hell Gate for safer navigation. It's been described as "the largest planned explosion before testing began for the atomic bomb".
X0r7Q TIL part of the reason why the destruction of the grassland habitat of the central USA and Canada was so devastating is that some species of grass can live for 50 years and their roots can reach 15 feet (4.5 meters) deep