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154

TIL that my middle name means olive tree.

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yQYvv TIL of the Bohemian Grove: A restricted 2700 acre campground in California that is only available for the world's elite. It is described as a private vacation getaway yet it is famous for hosting the Manhattan Project planning meeting in 1942, that led to the creation of the atomic bomb.
0BnR TIL Concorde pilots chased a solar eclipse at Mach 2. They extended it from 7 minutes to 74.
E1Ee0 TIL Studies have shown that feeling awed by something makes one feel healthier. It also makes people feel more generous, decreases aggressive attitudes and makes them feel more satisfied with their lives.
BrX4k TIL in 1975 Ingo Bethke escaped from East Germany by floating on an air mattress across the Elbe. 8 years later his brother Holger fled East Berlin by firing an arrow with a rope tied to it and zip lining accross. The two then flew their brother Egbert over the wall on a homemade ultralight in 1989.
VMQ6m TIL that Thanksgiving was not actually a federal holiday in the United States until 1863, when it was declared so by Abraham Lincoln.