› added 7 years ago

420

TIL 40% of Americans can't come up with $400 in an emergency

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W7d0B TIL that Edgar Allan Poe became a writer after a failed military career. He enlisted in the US Army in 1827. He failed as a cadet at West Point, and declared his intention to become a writer. His first works (a collection of poems) were written while in the Army
GMej TIL that British banking giant HSBC admitted to laundering billions of dollars for Colombian and Mexican drug cartels and violating a host of important banking laws (from the Bank Secrecy Act to the Trading With the Enemy Act), but there were no criminal charges and no one went to prison.
Y76EZ TIL a Portuguese king promised a religious order to build a convent if his wife became pregnant. The promise came true and the convent was built, making it one of the largest in Portugal.
69QOX TIL a Fata Morgana is a complex form of superior mirage visible in a narrow band right above the horizon
PYmxw TIL Volcano Surfing or Volcano Boarding, is a sport performed on volcano slopes. Potential dangers include falling off and getting cut by the rough volcanic ash, breathing poisonous gasses, contracting histoplasmosis (otherwise known as 'caver's disease'), or being hit by flying molten lava