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TIL Stanford University was founded in 1885 by Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane, in memory of their only child, Leland Jr., who died of typhoid fever at 15. After his 1884 death, the Stanfords determined that they would use their wealth to do something for “other people’s” children

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RGOw TIL Saddam Hussein kept a torture chamber in the basement of the Iraqi mission on the Upper East Side of NYC across the street from Michael Bloomberg’s house. People who died there had their bodies mailed back to Iraq in diplomatic shipments.
rJe1 TIL in 1975, a man died of laughter watching the “Kung Fu Kapers” episode of The Goodies. The skit featured a kilt-clad Scotsman with bagpipes battling a man with a black pudding. His widow later sent The Goodies a letter thanking them for making the final moments of her husband’s life so pleasant.
Br58k TIL that the Amondawa language has no word for "time", or time periods such as "month" or "year". The people do not refer to their ages, but rather assume different names in different stages of their lives or as they achieve different status within the community.
xAMB TIL In 570 BC, during a rebellion against Pharaoh Apries, one of his generals, Amasis, joined the rebels. Apries sent a messenger to try and convince Amasis to return. After listening to the messenger, Amasis raised his leg, farted, and told him to take that back to the Pharaoh.
GYEa7 TIL during filming of The Toast of New Orleans, Mario Lanza kept trying to french kiss Kathryn Grayson which was made even worse by his garlic breath. Costume designer Helen Rose sewed brass into Grayson's gloves, so that anytime Lanza tried to kiss her, she hit him with the brass-filled glove.