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TIL when his heir died childless, the estate of British scientist James Smithson passed to the U.S. government. American diplomat Richard Rush was sent to England to collect the money, and returned with today’s equivalent of $11M in gold coins, which was used to found the Smithsonian Institution.

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R7dpj TIL the first street fight caught on camera was in Halifax, England - 1901
Qnxe TIL astronauts must have good airflow around them when they sleep, otherwise, they could wake up oxygen-deprived and gasping for air because a bubble of their own exhaled carbon dioxide had formed around their heads.
Ooe6a TIL the CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception, written by a magician, included instructions such as signaling other spies by tying their shoelaces a particular way
6xmJ TIL that Johnson & Johnson knew their baby powder product caused ovarian cancer in some consumers, but sold it anyway. A victim successfully sued for $70 million but J&J still maintained that their baby powder was “perfectly safe”.
9Y7gM TIL that because he was in exile for nearly 30 years, Hồ Chí Minh could speak fluently as well as read and write professionally in French, English, Russian, Cantonese and Mandarin as well as his mother tongue Vietnamese