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TIL the great grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt wanted a racetrack for the Vanderbilt cup, the first major racing cup. The cup used to race on residential roads but two spectators were killed so he built the Long Island Motor Parkway but before long 2 riding mechanics were killed so racing was banned

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e0kWk TIL there are microscopic living things in solid rock up to 7 km deep, called Endoliths. So little energy is available they undergo cell division once every 100 years, and some may only divide once every 10,000 years.
nWrRG TIL about the "hand of glory" made from the hand of a hanged man. Europeans once made candles from the fat of the corpse of a criminal and placed it in the hand of glory, believing it would render motionless all persons to whom it was presented
ekXJ TIL of the cobra effect, in which unintended consequences make the problem worse. The anecdote goes that the British had a bounty on cobras in India which led to Indians breeding cobras.
ExVX TIL that all cats with 3 or more colors are females
YpaLZ TIL The richest person in Hong Kong is a high school dropout who first started a plastic flower company in 1950