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TIL The Treaty of Ghent of 1814 once contained a clause that if Britain and Spain were to go to war, the U.S. would be given the rights to “protect” occupy Canada for a period up to 20 years, after which the U.S. could buy it for 50 million if 2/3rd of Canadians voted to stay part of the U.S..

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aWD9 TIL the Mongols did what Hitler and Napoleon failed to do - defeat the Russians during winter!
5VQ9p TIL the Higgs-Boson Particle, aka "the God Particle", was actually called "the Goddamn Particle" by physicists because it was so difficult to detect. Publishers forced the rename, resulting in a confusing tie to religion for the particle which is nearly universally hated by physicists.
Ypwnv TIL The Lake at the Bellagio Las Vegas is serviced by a freshwater well that was drilled decades prior to irrigate a golf course on the site. The lake actually uses less water than irrigating the Golf Course did.
4XNLb TIL the founder of The North Face died of hypothermia
Yp6pB TIL that with lifestyle variables eliminated, men's life expectancy is only a year less than women's.