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TIL John Kluge, as Chairman of MetroMedia, was the Richest Man in America in 1987. During WW II, the German born Kluge served as an interrogator at a secret military base that processed high ranking Germans, including those who were part of Operation Paper Clip, including Werner Von Braun.

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XJNk TIL that a “safer cigarette” (The XA Project) was developed in the 70s but tobacco companies pressured the inventor to bury it because it implied their cigarettes were unsafe.
BrWQL TIL a woman in 2002 almost lost custody of her children seeking financial assistance after genetic testing showed she wasn’t the mother. She in fact exhibited chimerism, or 2 sets of DNA.
gMlA9 TIL an 18th century American businessman published a book in which he ranted about politicians, the clergy, and his wife. It had no punctuation and had random capitalization. In the 2nd edition, he added an extra page with 13 lines of punctuation marks, stating that readers could put them anywhere.
XEgn6 TIL a South African policeman and criminal, robbed banks on his lunch break and often returned as the investigating officer.
Z8Q0B TIL That women also competed as gladiators in ancient Rome and there is a marble relief dating to around the 2nd century A.D. depicting a bout between two women dubbed “Amazon” and “Achillia,” whom the inscription says fought to an honorable draw.