› added 13 years ago

98

TIL the only man to win both the Decathlon and the Pentathlon was of native American descent and had his medals removed as he played professional sport (just like most Olympians at the time)

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wev7 TIL the average person from Uganda is only 15 years old.
4Xm05 TIL of Jackie Coogan, a child actor in the silent film era who earned millions of dollars, only to find out in his 20s that his parents spent it all on jewelry and cars. He sued and the litigation resulted in the passage of the Coogan Act, which protects child actors
4XNk6 TIL J. K. Rowling wrote a short 800-word prequel to Harry Potter for a charity auction in 2008. 13 authors were asked to write an original work for the auction, and Rowling's piece sold for more than all the other writer's works combined at 25,000 pounds alone.
Aped TIL that mammals tend to have twice the number of teats as the typical number of offspring that would be born at once; this is why humans have two breasts
a8j8N TIL about Phyllis Wheatley. She was an enslaved woman, and a published poet. She sent Washington a poem, in which she advocated for the equality of all men, regardless of race. He wrote her back and extended an invitation to visit him.