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TIL during the 2014 Groundhog Day festival, New York mayor Bill de Blasio dropped the Staten Island Zoo's weather-predicting groundhog on its head, killing it -- which was then covered up by zoo officials who claimed Staten Island Chuck had "died of natural causes"

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DmBp TIL that the 19th century Catholic Church declared “Americanism” a heresy, which included the beliefs in separation of church and state, secularism, etc. This played into American fears at the time that Catholics were too loyal to the Pope and were thus undemocratic, illiberal, and unassimilatable.
R1vQ TIL Hedy Lamarr, an actress in the 40’s and 50’s and “the most beautiful woman in the world”, co-patented the technology that would lead to Wi-Fi, GPS, wireless phones, and others.
N75oE TIL of Iqbal Masih, a young boy who was rescued from slavery at a carpet loom. This young activist was assassinated at the age of 12 in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1995 by someone believed to be a feudal landlord and carpet manufacturer.
ynjJ TIL Vanna White wears a new ensemble for every single episode of Wheel of Fortune. Every few weeks, she has a fitting where she tries on 50 to 75 loaner dresses sent by designers and picks her favorite 15.
JLav TIL a blonde, blue eyed Frenchman moved to London, pretended to be from Taiwan, and became the most famous “Asian” in 18th Century England. He even wrote an influential book about Asia even though he had never been there and had no idea what he was talking about.