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TIL the Empire State Building opened during the Depression, and took 20 years to become profitable.

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5MEP TIL a massive, deadly gas explosion in a Harlem piano shop sent pianos flying across the store, surrounding the technician who lived there in a protective “cocoon” as the five-story building collapsed. He walked away with only a scratch.
neL8r TIL The Roman Empire knew about Kenya (called Azania) and were trading partners with them.
9VMB TIL astronomer Percival Lowell believed that he was the first person to observe canals on Venus, but because of a faulty adjustment of the eyepiece of his telescope, he was in fact looking at the blood vessels in his own eye.
Zpljv TIL Walt Disney was a descendant of Robert d‘Isigny, a companion of William the Conqueror. The surname Disney originates as an anglicisation of d‘Isigny.
9lLp TIL In the Middle Ages, men who wanted a boy sometimes had their left testicle removed because it was believed that the right testicle made “boy” sperm and the left made “girl” sperm.