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TIL that according to legend, in the 14th century, a boy urinated on a fuse that was set to explode all of Brussels. There is a statue commemorating him in Belgium.

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via reddit.com

j9WM TIL that Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus skeleton ever found, was going to be put in a private collection before companies including Disney and McDonald’s helped fund the Field Museum’s effort to purchase her for display to the public.
N7Rk6 TIL that in 1859 a 2 hour telegraph conversation between Portland and Boston was able to be had without the use of any battery power. This was due to an aurora borealis generating enough electric current in the telegraph wires.
py6b TIL that for over a century (colonial times-WWII) May 1st was ‘Moving Day’ in New York when tenants along with their belongings abandoned their abodes to criss-cross the city in mass migration to fresh dwellings.
Z8Ako TIL That the next blue moon, a second full moon of a month, will occur on Halloween night of next year.
mxYyv TIL U.S. Marine R. Lee Ermey was initially hired as a technical advisor for Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket". Kubrick changed his mind after seeing an instructional video Ermey put together.