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TIL that in 1910, the U.S. Congress nearly passed the "American Hippo Bill" to import hippopotamuses to Louisiana's bayous to address a meat shortage and control invasive water hyacinths

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GEv7 TIL the Parthenon is in such bad condition because occupying Turkish forces used it as a powder magazine which exploded when hit by a Venetian shell in 1687.
G9y7 TIL in 2005, Rob Schneider ripped critic Patrick Goldstein for panning Deuce Bigalow 2, stating Goldstein was unqualified to judge when he had never even been awarded by his peers. Roger Ebert’s response? “As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize… Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks”.
6EPnX TIL that William Shakespeare never actually spelled his own name as "William Shakespeare" in his works. Variants of his name include Sakspere, Sackspere, Shakespere, Shakespeer, Shakyspyer, Shaxpeare and others
vJar TIL Polar bears are invisible to night-vision goggles.
QNXRL TIL that cats have a non-lethal terminal velocity