› added 9 years ago

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TIL that pre-columbian population of the Americas is estimated to have been 50-100 million people. 90% of the indigenous population died from diseases imported by europeans, most of which got infected and died without direct contact - fuelling the legend of an empty continent ready to be seized

JYORV TIL Michael Jordan wanted a sponsorship deal with Adidas but they thought he was too short. He signed with Nike instead and today his brand makes about $3 billion a year in sales, with $100 million going to Jordan.
7kp TIL that many ‘Ghost Trains’ run on the British Rail Network. These trains - often unadvertised - run extremely rarely, at obscure times, through bizarre routes, purely to keep the line officially open whilst discouraging passenger use. Ghost train hunters roam the country searching for them!
M7V7A TIL about Sarah Josepha Hale. She wrote the poem "Mary had a Little Lamb" and was editor of the most influential women's magazine of the time. Helping to found Vassar College. Over the course of 17 years she wrote five different presidents urging them to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.
PYxBe TIL When a male penguin falls in love with a female penguin, he searches the entire beach to find the perfect pebble to present to her
yVG6p TIL Unlike the Hawaiian taught in schools, the Niʻihau dialect maintains the variation between [r] and [l], in addition to [t] and [k]. Some other pockets of speakers on Molokai and Maui have also been found to maintain the [t] variant.