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TIL In 1907, J.P. Morgan (70 yo). summoned dozens of the leading financiers to his private library and ordered them to contribute to a $25 million pool to stop the financial crisis the country was going through. he locked them in the library the whole night until they agreed on his plan.

v1ybx TIL that when you splash water on your face, your body instantly begins to prepare your body for free diving, slowing your heart rate and pulling blood into vital organs in what scientist call “the master switch of life”
mxyay TIL the word "America" is a latinized version of Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer who voyaged to the "new world" and published two popular booklets in Europe about the new continent. This inspired cartographer Martin Waldseemüller to label the new land after him on his maps, creating the trend.
mxa4O TIL that Edward Rulloff, a 19th-century serial killer, doctor, philologist, and inventor, was deemed so intelligent that even after his conviction for murder, some believed he was too valuable to be hanged. Even Mark Twain jokingly offered to find a replacement to take his place at the gallows.
e09GJ TIL about the "tragic mulatto" character which existed in early American entertainment. They were portrayed as a biracial black person who was light enough to pass as white, but was not accepted by either white or black society. They were oftentimes depicted as suicidal and self-hating.
Ve6m TIL Egyptians ‘created’ modern cats through selective breeding, choosing the most sociable to keep mating