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TIL Thomas Jefferson wanted to adopt the metric system in the United States, but pirates of the Caribbean hijacked its adoption

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5VrPk TIL many Japanese gods are originally Hindu gods. in Japanese mythology, there are "Seven Gods of Fortune" out of which four originated as Hindu deities.
9wPZD TIL Carlos Santana hears from angels since reading a book about them from a Milwaukee airport. Since 1994, the high-angel Metatron speaks through him ("like a fax machine") & convinced him to make an album. This became the Grammy-sweeping "Supernatural"— which includes "Smooth [ft. Rob Thomas]"
N7rnQ TIL Handwriting experts suggest Czar Alexander I of Russia, who defeated Napoleon, faked his own death and reinvented himself as the monk Fyodor Kuzmich, who had noble manners, spoke several languages, and claimed to have forgotten his past.
bppa TIL a botched embalming job on Pope Pius XII (died 1958) caused his body to rapidly decompose while laying in state. The Vatican Swiss guards guarding the body had to be changed every 10 minutes because the awful smell caused some of them to pass out.
aj9y TIL that a human would have to run ~45mph to run on water.