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TIL the White House’s Press Briefing Room was originally a swimming pool.

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via ift.tt

woKJY TIL that in 1994, a 17-year-old boy scout named David Hahn attempted to build a nuclear reactor in a backyard shed at his mother's house in Commerce Township, Michigan. The experiment emitted measurable radiation and the EPA eventually declared the property a Superfund cleanup site.
E1X1X TIL of “Sixteen String Jack,” a 1770’s highway robber famous for the colorful strings he wore over his breeches. He loved partying and robbed to pay his debts. Before his execution he dined with 7 women, joked with the crowd and danced a jig before being hung in a green suit he had specially made.
KOkBG TIL Kanye West moved to China with his mother when he was 10 years old and learned to speak Mandarin, although he has since forgotten most of what he learnt.
e0Ywk TIL that English cricket great Denis Compton was renowned for his absent-mindedness. He once arrived at a match without his kitbag, so he used an antique bat from the stadium's museum; and during a major celebration in honour of his 70th birthday, his mother rang, telling him that he was only 69
Brwoe TIL that the blue whale heart rate was measured for the first time last year! It gets as low as 2 beats per minute, raising up to 37 when it resurfaces (more oxygen access). It works at physiological extremes, and explains why the whale never evolved to be even bigger.