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TIL in 1861 there was 45 straight days of rain in California, creating a lake 300 miles long and 20 miles wide in the Central Valley and an inland sea in Orange County.

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gMy8y TIL that German-born soldiers made up about 10% of Union forces during the Civil War. Some of them were exiled supporters of the 1848 revolutions that swept Europe. After the war, the Forty-Eighters supported improved labor laws, and also advanced development in education, medicine, and journalism.
ykra TIL that in 1999 a fisherman found a love letter in a bottle from a soldier in WWI. He returned the letter to his widow, who was still alive.
a6JM TIL that in NYC, you cannot sue the city for tripping on cracked sidewalks unless the city was previously aware of the cracks. As a result, lawyers pay people to map every single crack so they can sue the city more easily.
vGox TIL: Marie Antoinette was the subject of countless cruel, and sometimes pornographic, pamphlets throughout her reign. Pornography in eighteenth century France took the form of crude caricatures, colorful cartoons, and even sophisticated etchings and engravings.
vp9L TIL In Australia, torn bank notes are worth the proportion of the note left. Half a $20 note is worth $10