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TIL that in 2016 a London Zoo gorilla drank five litres of blackcurrant juice after escaping enclosure: ‘Kumbuka’, a male silverback, sparked an armed police response after his break out bid on 13 October

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R5Zl4 TIL in 1916, Woodrow Wilson ran for re-election on the slogan "He kept us out of war," promising to maintain neutrality during World War I. But shortly after his surprise win, he led the US into the war in 1917, sparking significant backlash and dramatically shifting the nation's foreign policy.
Eg8Mo TIL of the Lunada Bay Boys, beginning in the 60s as a peaceful surfing club for Palos Verdes residents. It would devolve into a territorial surfer gang that would harass non local beachgoers and destroy their property. By 2017, approx. one-quarter to one half of the local surfers are members.
xva7 TIL China is currently building a fully functional duplicate of Manhattan, with intentions of it becoming the “largest single financial center in the world”.
LQEbr TIL that Leo Fender, the founder of Fender Guitars, did not know how to play a guitar at all.
wo0P6 TIL Disagreeing with his contemporaries generally who saw the roman republic as disunited and disorganised because of the plebeian uprisings, Niccolo Machiavelli defended said uprisings as essential to liberty and argued in favor of strikes and non-violent popular dissent