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TIL coffee was all the rage in London in the 17th and 18th century until a fungus destroyed coffee plantations and forced the switch to tea in Sri Lanka

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OG5ga TIL of the Human Development Index (HDI) ranking of countries. Korea, Ireland, and Hong Kong (among others) outrank the U.S.
ADl87 TIL UPS drivers don't take the shortest routes. UPS has special software which optimises each route by eliminating as many left-hand turns as possible. As result, UPS claims it uses 10m gallons less fuel, emits 20,000 tonnes less carbon dioxide and delivers 350,000 more packages every year.
epgd4 TIL: During the filming of "Doctor Dolittle" (1967), the crew faced many problems due to the over 1200 animals that were used. Some of them include: a goat eating the script, squirrels eating parts of the scenery, a parrot yelling "cut", and a giraffe stepping on his own genitals.
BgmDx TIL about Cher Ami, a WWI homing pigeon who was shot through the chest, blinded in one eye, and flying with a nearly severed leg—yet still delivered a message that saved 194 men, earned a Croix de Guerre, and now rests in the Smithsonian.
X6ek TIL Keanu Reeves donated all his earnings (> $35 mil) from The Matrix to his special effects team, it made all of them multi-millionaires.