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TIL Taylor Swift was born into wealth. Her father is "from three generations of bank presidents" and worked for Merrill Lynch. At the age of 14 her family moved to Nashville where her father purchased a stake in Big Machine, the label to which Swift first signed.

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7r7N7 TIL in 1817 an English man named Abraham Thornton successfully avoided a murder charge by demanding "trial by battle." It turned out that the practice was still technically allowed under the law despite having not been used for hundreds of years. Parliament finally abolished it one year later.
M9d0 TIL that a group of Oregon lawmakers rickrolled the state legislature in 2011. Each person incorporated one line into their speech.
8aJaK TIL Getty Images, a company infamous for sending threatening letters requesting payment when their photos are used without permission, was sued for more than $1 billion in damages when they mistakenly demanded a “settlement payment” from a photographer for her own work.
oRBPK TIL Yuri Knorozov, a Soviet Officer in the Second World War, went on to become essential in the deciphering of Maya hieroglyphics after finding a book in the German National Library during the end of the war, and taking the statement that "Maya Hieroglyphics were indecipherable" personally.
OGkQ7 TIL that Pyrocumulonimbus clouds form during intense wildfires when the heat from the fire sends a lot of smoke and hot air high into the atmosphere. This can create a type of cloud that is capable of producing lightning, which can sometimes start new fires.