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TIL of Masako Katsura, the "First Lady of Billiards". She was Japan's first professional female billiards player, and moved to the USA after marrying an American in 1951. There, she competed in the 1952 billiards world championship, becoming the second female contender ever and taking 7th place.

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mRNo TIL that in the wake of WWII, the combination of inexpensive geothermal power and high prices for imported fruit led to Iceland using the warmth from lava to grow banana trees.
XXaP TIL L. Ron Hubbard believed so strongly that he had been Cecil Rhodes in a previous life that in 1966 he travelled to Rhodesia to recover the huge amounts of gold and diamonds he had stashed away in this previous life. Declared an unwanted persons, he was deported and lost $200,000 on the expedition
78RMx TIL that prior to World War 2 Vidkun Quisling was known for helping Norwegian explorer Fritjof Nansen in humanitarian work for the Russian famine as well as Armenian genocide survivors
9YXpM TIL: During the transition from The Soviet Union to Russia, the CSKA, (The Central Red Army Hockey Club) were financially broke. They were saved from bankruptcy by a joint venture between the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Red-Army, Mario Lemieux and actor Michael J. Fox.
VO5B TIL In Australia, cavities in the ground left by fossils will sometimes fill with a liquid containing dissolved opals. When the liquid evaporates, the opal remains, forming opalised fossils. The best example of this is a 6m long Plesiosaur skeleton, completely made of opal (more sources in comments)