› added 13 years ago

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TIL Thomas Jefferson asked Lewis and Clark to keep their eye out for a 10 foot tall Lion while they explored the West.

Read more lewis-clark.org

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epyJk Today I learned of Cuxirimay Ocllo, who was the cousin and concubine to the final Incan Emperor Atahualpa. Following Atahualpa's execution, she became the concubine to Francisco Pizarro. She outlived Pizarro as well and married a man compiling the history of the Spanish conquest of the Inca.
jGPv TIL in 2003 a man in Belgium stole diamonds worth 100M Dollars after getting past a lock with 100M possible combinations, infrared heat detectors, a seismic sensor, Doppler radar, a magnetic field and security force. He was caught because he left a partially eaten sandwich near the crime scene
yQx4a TIL the original script for Fight Club was found to be 6 hours long in the initial reading. However, the film's creators managed to cut it down to 139 minutes.
rkE0 TIL that humans actually knew the earth was round as early as 2500 years ago. Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the planet to an astounding accuracy of around 99%.
mbWY TIL that until World War II most US groceries, dry cleaners, drugstores, and department stores offered home delivery service. War-related labor shortages, and gas/tire rationing, caused most to stop; businesses found, however, that sales increased when customers had to buy in person.