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TIL Mechaniscburg in Pennsylvania is a town named for a settlement of mechanics who made and repaired Conestoga wagons in the early 19th century.

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Wk0Vo TIL of Lydia Angiyou, a Canadian mother who in 2006 defended her 7 year old son and his friends from a Polar Bear attack by single-handedly fighting off the bear until a hunter could arrive. A rare example of life or death "Hysterical Strength". She survived and later received the Medal of Bravery.
b9dwp TIL that ancient Roman food counter (ancient fast-food restaurant) was called thermopolium. The one in Pompeii had this menu: remnants of duck, goat, pig, fish and snails in earthen pots, sometimes combined in the same dish.
E1W9d TIL "Saudade" is the word for being nostalgic about past relationships that are hard to let go. It's the recollection of feelings/experiences/relationships/etc that brought happiness, but also the pain of separation from them. It acknowledges that longing for the past would detract from the future.
kVPg TIL some Chinese pet sellers make fake purebreds called “week dogs”. The dogs are produced by subjecting a mutt with congenital disease to cosmetic surgery, industrial dyes, painkillers and stimulants. Most die within 7 days and leave their owners heartbroken.
pgRA TIL Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi had secured free passage on the Titanic’s maiden voyage but decided to take an earlier ship to catch up on work. Three years later he disembarked the Lusitania right before it was sunk by a German U-Boat.