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TIL that in 1916 the US bought the Danish West Indies from Denmark for $25,000,000 in gold to turn them into the United States Virgin Islands

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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.
awLEo TIL in 2008, Nebraska's new "Safe Haven" laws allowing babies to be abandoned anonymously without fear of prosecution had to be changed after dozens of older children were abandoned within the first few months -- none of whom were babies. The law was revised to include an age limit of one year.
R7N5Q TIL that only 14.5% of American men are 6 feet tall or taller. About 3% are taller than 6 feet 2 inches. Interestingly however, 58% of CEOs in the U.S. are over 6 feet.
pkge TIL no amount of radiation will escape from your microwave oven if you open the door without stopping it first - it takes just 64 nanoseconds to decay to 0.1% [PDF]
GA11 TIL Rapper Mystikal was sentenced (and served) 6 years in state prison after pleading guilty to forcing his hairstylist to perform sex acts and for extorting money.