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980

TIL Prince released an album with Dave Chapelle dressed him from his show on the cover.

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9oMB TIL In 1946 the Winecoff Hotel, advertised as “absolutely fireproof”, was the site of the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history. 119 people died spurring significant changes in U.S. building codes. A 24-year-old grad student won the 1947 Pulitzer for a shot of one occupant’s leap from the fire.
16ExV TIL one of the most banned books ever is an erotic novel titled Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, by John Cleland. Otherwise known as Fanny Hill, the first pornographic novel in english prose.
reRW TIL that Kevin Buddin, an amateur herpetologist, captured a six foot Taipan (the third most venomous land snake in the world) alive and, after being bitten, stopped locals from killing it. He died from the bite, but the snake was milked to provide the first Taipan anti-venom.
gMVw4 TIL that many trains have a "sanding system" that allows sand to be strewn onto the tracks in front of the wheels to increase traction during adverse weather.
9YXQm TIL that the Roanoke colonists who "vanished" in the late 1500s may have moved to Hatteras Island and integrated with the Croatoan tribe.