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TIL that archaeology shows humans living in the Americas long before the formation of the Bering Straight Land Bridge.

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QNZoe TIL that upon his death, the Catholic priest Jean Meslier (1664-1729) was discovered to have written a book-length philosophical essay promoting atheism and materialism and criticizing and denouncing all religions, calling Jesus a "madman" and a "fanatic".
v1wbD TIL: Handshakes originated as a way to see if the person you met was armed. You took their hand to see if it was empty and shook it to confirm they had no weapons up their sleeve.
rRMV1 TIL "Peggy Sue," released in 1957, first carried the moniker of Buddy Holly’s niece, Cindy Lou Kaiter. But Jerry Allison, The Crickets’s drummer who co-wrote the song, argued it be named after his girlfriend, Peggy Sue Gerron.
Z8mAv TIL that Harper Lee’s friends gave her a full year’s salary for Christmas in 1956 so that she would be able to take a year off from work to write. Lee used that time to write “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which has since sold over 40 million copies.
XZO8 TIL Squirrels can rotate their ankles 180 degrees, can see peripherally in perfect vision, and greet their nest-mates by nuzzling and ‘kissing’ at the end of the day.