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TIL that Jeffrey Hudson, a court dwarf of the English Queen Henrietta Maria, shot a man in a duel, after which he went into exile, was captured by Barbary pirates, spent 25 years enslaved in North Africa during which he grew 25 inches, which he attributed to the hard conditions.

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awN7b TIL that in 1963, JFK sent a letter to congress in which he recommends the U.S participation in a campaign to preserve ancient monuments in the Nile Valley. The U.S contributed with $16m while the estimated cost for the campaign was $100m. Sadly JFK couldn't see the progress since he was assassined.
l7pRV TIL that a study shows that a bottle of red wine is equivalent to 5-10 cigarettes in terms of cancer risk
yVB8X TIL About Vincent 'Chin' Gigante who was the Don of the Genovese crime family. Ultimately convicted of racketeering and obstruction of justice charges Gigante spent years feigning insanity walking around Greenwich Village in a bathrobe mumbling incoherently.
gM8AX TIL: African Pygmy tribes were essentially atheistic and were observed to have no cults, no rites, no totems, no deities, and no spirits. Dead were buried without ceremonies or gifts and received no further attention. They even appeared to lack simple superstitions, according to travelers' reports
kJYyW TIL Pumpkin toadlets (Brachycephalus) are a species of frog that can jump but then go limp, spin, and fail at landing. Purportedly their semicircle ear canals have evolved to be too small to accurately detect angular acceleration while they’re airborne.