› added 11 months ago

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TIL Colgate University was started by 13 men with $13 and 13 prayers, so 13 is considered a lucky number. Friday the 13th is the luckiest day at Colgate.

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gDoW TIL Ireland exported enormous quantities of food during the height of the 1840’s Great Famine, “more than enough grain crops to feed the population.”
9wxoQ TIL Harpo Marx was a Cold War spy
woXv8 TIL After Leonardo da Vinci's death in 1519, his half-brother Bartolomeo attempted to replicate his genius by fathering a son by a woman from the same village as Leonardo's mother. The boy, Pierino da Vinci, was raised in one of Florence's finest art studios but sadly died young.
R7P9l TIL the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) does not believe it is important for students to take calculus in high school, saying “the pump that is pushing more students into more advanced mathematics ever earlier is not just ineffective: It is counter-productive.”
Ege1X TIL: That the movie Philadelphia is shot chronological order as Tom Hanks, playing a character with AIDS, had to gradually lose weight over the course of the film. It was also felt that this would help Hanks follow a clear emotional trajectory.