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TIL that Central Park was developed by claiming eminent domain and acquiring land previously owned by roughly 1,600 free African-American inhabitants

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v1ANR TIL in the sea between Australia and New Zealand, there's an island taller than it is wide. Ball's Pyramid only measures 300m across, yet peaks at 562m in elevation.
5YQL8 TIL the only book Stephen King has let go out of print is Rage, in which a kid shoots his teacher and holds his class hostage. While he doesn't think books, movies, or video games cause violence, he does think they could act as an outlet to commit violence through, and should be more responsible.
YpeGZ TIL each year U of Chicago students embark on a scavenger hunt. The 1999 list included a French Canadian, Fisher Price Baby's First Flamethrower, 5 Mensa membership cards and a nuclear reactor. Justin Kasper and Fred Niell built a plutonium-producing reactor in a single day to get 2nd place
Lkjv9 TIL That the first bicycle was invented during a famine caused by a Indonesian vulcanic eruption in 1815. Horses were eaten during the famine, so there were fewer of them to be used as a means of transportation.
b9dEa TIL in the original 1938 comics, Superman could not fly, but he could leap tall buildings in a single bound. Superman gained the ability to fly in the second episode of the radio serial in 1940