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152

TIL Queen Victoria chose Ottawa to be Canada's capital

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78Lmx TIL Graham Norton auditioned for a part in The Lord of the Rings.
v1WOD TIL Former Vice President Alben W. Barkley suddenly collapsed and died from a massive heart attack during his keynote speech at the Washington and Lee University Mock Convention upon uttering: "I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than sit in the seats of the mighty." April 30, 1956.
yVvpa TIL that the smell of freshly-cut grass is actually a plant distress call. What we interpret as a fresh smell is a compound plants release when in distress.
kJ0RW TIL that Punxsutawney Phil and his ancestors have an accuracy rate of 39% going back to 1887
R7okw TIL of Australian serial killer William MacDonald. When he left a victim under his shop and fled to another city police failed to link it to the other murders and assumed the rotting corpse was MacDonald, who was declared dead