› added 4 years ago

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TIL that George B. McClellan, the mayor of New York in 1904, was to symbolically start the first train at City Hall station and the hand it over to an engineer. However, he enjoyed himself so much that he refused to stop controlling the train until he reached 103rd street.

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OGPR7 TIL Author Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park/Congo/Sphere) was 6'9"
R544w TIL of George Pickering, who in 2014 held a team of doctors hostage to save the life of his son, declared brain dead after a stroke. He forced them at gunpoint to keep his son on life support during a 3 hour standoff with police, until he felt his son squeeze his hand.
v1DP7 TIL that cheetahs are so instinctively shy animals, especially in captivity, that they even fail to procreate. And so for years, conservationists have been giving cheetahs emotional support dogs who are raised with them and help them socialise and reduce anxiety.
oB65W TIL The founder and majority stakeholder of Starbucks was responsible for the dissolution of the Seattle Supersonics NBA franchise.
GYNE5 TIL In 1908 William "Bigfoot" Anakin, a local champion, was taken along by a publican to court to help demonstrate that darts was not gambling, it was a game of skill. He threw three darts in the center, no other court official could do the same. The judge ruled that darts was a game of skill.