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TIL French author Voltaire wrote over 2000 books & was read by Napoleon, Frederick the Great & Catherine the Great. Upon his death in 1778 Catherine the Great purchased his entire collection & moved it to The Hermitage in Russia.

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vPjdK TIL that the phrase "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" was only created in 2003 and was for an advertising campaign
jmLv TIL in 2010 research was done to find the most effective promotion strategy for employers. For the control group they used random selection. Random won.
KYvxw TIL of Loma Prieta, an earthquake that destroyed the Embarcadero freeway in SF. Despite fears that a traffic apocalypse would be nigh were the highway not rebuilt, the congestion never materialized and remains of the freeway were removed.
WQA9 TIL on October 20, 1944, an above-ground natural gas storage tank began to leak. The gas eventually made its way into the sewers of Cleveland and ignited, blowing manhole covers miles away and shooting flames up through the plumbing of homes. 130 people were killed.
GApZ7 TIL humans can be born with tails.