› added 6 months ago

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TIL Hetty Green, the "Witch of Wall Street," became the wealthiest woman of the early 20th century, amassing a $100M fortune (~$2.7B today) by investing in real estate, railroads, and mortgages. Green was also a miser who wore the same black dress daily, ate only oatmeal, and lived in cheap housing.

8apLZ TIL that Freddie Mercury wrote 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' in the bath. He was in the tub at a hotel and got inspired for the song, he even had the piano brought to his tub to allow him to compose.
oNDW TIL in 1876, a railroad bridge collapsed, dropping a train 76 feet into water below and killing 159 people. The President of the railroad had been allowed to design the bridge by an indifferent Engineer. The Engineer was later found with a bullet in his head.
78oVp TIL that John Mayer has a "SRV" tattoo on his arm for Stevie Ray Vaughn that is actually "SRU" because Stevie's guitar tech accidentally placed a letter U instead of a V on Stevie's guitar.
69oNQ TIL that in addition to there being cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3) and ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd), there are also cardinal directions (N/E/W/S) and ordinal directions (NE/SE/NW/SW).
x6b0B TIL about tiny freshwater crustaceans found in the desert such as 'fairy shrimp' whose eggs lay dormant for up to 7 years until conditions are right, surviving extreme heat, cold and drought. They live in temporary bodies of water known as ephemeral pools such as rain puddles and seasonal wetlands.