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TIL that William Peter Blatty, the author of "The Exorcist", spend over a year successfully posing as a Saudi Arabian prince while living in Los Angeles in the 1960s. He kept up the charade while appearing as a contestant on Groucho Marx's game show "You Bet Your Life".

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D5mY TIL that many countries have savings plans that amount to a “no-lose lottery”; interest is a bit lower, but large prizes are given out periodically. It is very successful at getting people to save their money, but is often illegal in N. America due to government monopolies on running lotteries.
DLpe TIL that from 1661 until 1911, the English monarchy did not own the gems in the crown used for coronation ceremonies. They were hired each time, then detached afterwards.
0wKrL TIL ancient Greeks never mentioned the color blue, with Homer describing the sea as "wine-dark", and while researchers first believed the Greeks were color blind, recent experiments with modern peoples suggest that we can't see the color blue until there's a word for it
d8eXE TIL that Charles Darwin was an avid beetle collector. One day he found 2 rare beetles and seized one in each hand. He then saw a third one, and thus put one of the beetles he already had into his mouth. It ejected some acid and burnt his tongue, forcing him to spit it out. He lost 2 of the beetles.
6AKY TIL: A Scottish man called Gregor MacGregor invented a country called Poyais and earned millions from investors who invested in this non existant country!