› added 8 years ago

95

TIL Ulysses S. Grant wrote his memoirs after being commissioned by Mark Twain. After his presidency, Grant had lost all his savings to a shady investment partner, leaving his family nearly destitute. Grant died days after finishing, but sold over 300,000 copies and earned his family over $450,000.

Read more republicanpresidents.net

via reddit.com

wLdg1 Today I learned that the three rulers of Great Britain , Russia, and Germany, respectively, were first cousins. Additionally, Czar Nicholas II of Russia, King George V of Britain were friends since childhood and were mistaken for each other because they looked so alike.
oZDA TIL that Thomas Jefferson (yes, that one) invented American mac ‘n cheese.
9Y1kr TIL: Goats can rotate their eyes so that their rectangular pupils stay horizontal with the ground when bending over to eat.
9Y9Nm TIL of the Yaghan, the people inhabiting the southernmost tip of the world. Despite extreme cold, they used to wear no clothing and instead lit many fires. This caused passing European ships to call their land the "land of fires".
jlDR TIL there is an underground vault containing every Lego set ever