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TIL that in 1862 Lincoln rejected an offer for a battalion of elephants from the King of Siam (present day Thailand). The elephants would have been a follow up to a set of "royal gifts" which included a sword "of costly materials" already sent to the president. Talk about a white elephant!

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yQ7Wp TiL That Prince asked Journey's Jonathan Cain for his blessing when he had recorded "Purple Rain" because he was worried it sounded too much like Journey's "Faithfully"
YgR7 TIL Karl Pilkington’s brother was kicked out the Army for driving a tank down the high street to get some Cigarettes
PYe9L TIL George Carlin narrated four seasons of "Thomas the Tank Engine"
x6l6k TIL Nearly every afternoon from September to March, a thunderstorm named Hector develops over the Tiwi Islands in northern Australia
D1JMv TIL that R2-D2 and C-3PO appear as hieroglyphics in the backround of scenes in "Raiders of the Lost Ark."