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TIL that from July 9, 1832 to August 5, 1835 there was a small, unrecognized country called the Republic of Indian Stream carved from a contested segment of New Hampshire on the border of the US and British Lower Canada. The citizens voted to join New Hampshire in 1836.

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v1YDj TIL of "Newton's flaming laser sword, a philosophical razor which states that "what cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating." It was supposedly named this because it not only "undoubtedly cuts out the crap, [but] also seems to cut out almost everything else as well."
rWJ0 TIL In 1994 Pearl Jam helped kick off a Justice Department antitrust probe into TicketMaster, so TickerMaster hired a law firm with partners posted in the DOJ anti-trust division. The investigation was dismissed soon after, and TicketMaster’s monopoly practices have continued unchecked ever since.
VAgD TIL in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003), they made a special effort to make sure that Sauron’s tower being destroyed did not resemble the World Trade Center attack.
nYaY TIL there is a species of jellyfish that is biologically immortal. It can return to its undeveloped state through a process known as"transdifferentiation", allowing it to de-age at will. It does this despite not having a brain!
vPY1R TIL A 2004 British reality show selected nine contestants for their suggestibility, tricked them into thinking they were flown to Russia, then had them compete to become space tourists. The "winners" were placed on a simulator and tricked into thinking they were in space for five days.