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TIL in 1820, 94% of the world's population lived in extreme poverty. In 1990, 34.8%, and in 2015, just 9.6%.

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YpomG TIL, in 2015, brothers John and Geof Bitmead modified a Daewoo Matiz to resemble the red and yellow 'Little Tikes' car. The car cost £30,000 to build, and was put on auction for £21,500; it failed to sell.
j69Wa TIL about Gilles de Rais, a leader in the French army during the Hundred Years' War, and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc was put on trial and eventually found guilty of the abduction, torture and murder of more than 140 children in attempt to summon a demon named Barron.
W7g8 TIL that George C. Parker, a con man, would sell the Brooklyn Bridge twice a week to tourists; the buyers would sometimes try to put up toll barriers.
NXAL8 TIL in WW2, a German interrogator realised the best way to get information from prisoners was through kindness
npeW TIL there’s more gold in a ton of mobile phones than a ton of gold ore. It takes a ton of ore to get 1g of gold, but you can get the same amount from recycling 41 mobile phones