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TIL that evaporation of the man-made Salton Sea has caused algal blooms from concentrated fertilizer runoff, botulism-tainted fish, massive bird die-offs that required 24/7 incineration of the carcasses, and toxic, foul-smelling clouds of dust that wafted into Los Angeles.

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5Vwg9 TIL in 2010, officials in Tokyo went to congratulate the oldest man in the city, Sogen Kato, on his 111th birthday, but instead found his skeletal remains on his bed. He’d been dead for 30 years but his family had kept it secret to continue collecting his pension money.
dO5r TIL That Scottish soldier Gregor MacGregor claimed he was made the leader of a country in Latin America which did not exist and then proceeded to earn himself a fortune by selling land and government bonds of said fictitious country to wealthy British and French investors.
pYeye TIL between 1913-1915 there were at least 7 instances of people using the Postal Service to mail their young children to relatives. The longest such postage was a 6 year old being mailed over 720 miles from Florida to Virginia.
R7Ng9 TIL The Inuit people of northern Greenland had many metal knives and tools despite having no mines or smelting: they used enormous iron meteorites for their metal which American explorer Robert E. Peary ultimately stole.
NX7lb TIL in the 18th century, rich people usually owned a large wig for formal occasions and a smaller one to wear at home. Wigs were a status symbol and were also the target of thieves due to how costly some of them were. Those who couldn't afford wigs tried to make their real hair look like one.