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TIL: The Republican Party was solely created to stop slavery.

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kOxE4 TIL in 1953 four editors from the Harvard Crimson newspaper stole a birdsh*t covered ibis statue from their rival- the Harvard Lampoon. The editors talked their way into a meeting with the Soviet Ambassador, and gifted the ibis to the USSR as ‘symbol of the universality of the search for truth'
AN9bw TIL that Taylor Swift's 2010 song 'Enchanted' was likely about Adam Young of Owl City. He responded with a cover on his blog just before Valentine's Day, addressing her by name in the lyrics and telling her he was "enchanted to meet her, too." Taylor never responded publicly to the cover or post.
NXwgN TIL of Lost City a robust ancient Ancestral Puebloan city in Nevada that was rediscovered in late 1800s that was knowingly flooded and lost due to the Hoover Dam construction and creation of the Lake Mead reservoir
VMrmk TIL that in Mid-Imperial China (900s-1400s), imperial officials wore special caps that had two very long "horns" protruding on both sides which aimed to prevent them from whispering at each other during court ceremonies. Called the Zhangokfutou, it was invented by the paranoiac Song Dynasty.
v1OrD TIL of Larry Walters, who in 1982 rode a lawn chair attached to helium balloons to 16,000 feet. He ended up floating in the path of pilots at LAX Airport. Armed with a pellet gun, he controlled his descent by firing the gun at the balloons, popping them one by one.