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TIL of Buffalo Child Long Lance, an American journalist, writer and actor from North Carolina who became internationally prominent as a spokesman for Indian causes. He was a darling of Hollywood cocktail parties until it was discovered that he was part black, a fact that ended his career.

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8eEJ4 TIL: Dawn, the preferred detergent for cleaning oil spills, ironically derives its grease fighting power from petroleum derived chemicals
XEOeP TIL snake oil was introduced to the US by Chinese laborers who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad. Derived from the Chinese water snake, snake oil was rich in the omega-3 acids that help reduce inflammation and was quite effective, especially when used to treat arthritis and bursitis.
Zp5gY TIL at Christmastime in Ethiopia, villagers play a long-distance hockey-like game called Gena in the space between villages but with no defined boundaries.
DQD7j TIL in 1884, LaMarcus Adna Thompson invented rollercoasters to deter people from gambling, drinking, and other morally questionable activities. The rollercoaster was called the Switchback Railway located at Coney Island, New York.
XEl4P TIL Bill Gates had an arrangement with Melinda that he and his ex-girlfriend, Ann Winblad, could keep one vacation tradition alive. Every spring, as they have for more than a decade, Gates spends a long weekend with Winblad at her beach cottage.