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TIL Pablo Escobar’s smuggled hippos are thriving in Colombia and have gone from an original number of 4 to an estimated 40.

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6EW5Z TIL on October 6th, 1909, a new ambulance in Vancouver was sent out on it's first test drive and immediately hit and killed a pedestrian.
QJAWE TIL that the tradition of Popes adopting a papal name started with Pope John II, who was named Mercurius at birth and thought bearing the name of a pagan god was inappropriate.
rRd6W TIL that Charles Darwin wrote a list of pros and cons of marriage. Pros included "constant companion and a friend in old age... better than a dog anyhow". Cons included "less money for books". When he visited his future wife he forgot to propose because he was too busy telling her about evolution
7rbXP TIL of Thomas McKeller, who - at 26 - became the primary muse and lover of one of America's most prolific artists, John Singer Sargent. An African-American, McKeller was recreated solely as white figures in Sargent's public works - including the famed ceiling murals at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.
BrPVd TIL the lead role in "Edward Scissorhands" was originally offered to Tom Cruise, but he wanted a happier ending and declined. And before given to Johnny Depp - Tom Hanks, Gary Oldman, Jim Carrey, John Cusack, William Hurt, Robert Downy Jr., and Michael Jackson had all been offered and/or considered.