› added 5 years ago

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TIL that Jean Valjean, the main character from Les Miserables, has a father, mother, and sister that are canonically named Jean, Jeanne, and Jeanne respectively.

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Br8ee TIL of Aleksander Doba, a Polish kayaker known primarily for his long voyages across oceans. He kayaked across the Atlantic Ocean under his own power on three separate occasions. He completed his last crossing at the age of 70. His passages remain the longest open-water kayak voyages ever made
ZpdRa TIL mūmiyā, a type of resin/bitumen used to treat diseases in traditional Islamic medicine, was transliterated as “mumia” in Western Europe during medieval times, which misled Europeans to think it was related to mummies and made them start consuming/trafficking human mummies from Egypt into Europe
QNlGk TIL about the Gulf rupee, which was issued by the Government of India and was equivalent to the Indian rupee. Between 1956 and 1966, it was the official currency used in areas that today form the countries of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the UAE.
epgJE TIL about Randy Gardner, who set the world record by staying awake for 11 days and 25 minutes in 1964 as part of a high school science experiment, experiencing severe cognitive and physical effects but fully recovering afterward.
KJ8E TIL there’s a series of 70-foot-long concrete arrows that bisects the country longitudinally all the way from SF to NYC, all designed to direct aerial traffic. They are from the pre-digital age and were installed by the Federal government in 1924, coupled with light signals to guide the way.