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TIL Charles Dickens' stories were often published in a series with cliffhanger endings. When a ship arrived in New York Harbor carrying the next installment of "The Old Curiosity Shop", Dickens fans crowded on the dock screaming, “Is little Nell dead?"

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AxEB TIL that between 1970 and 1980, 2 billionaire brothers attempted to corner the silver market. They owned an estimated 1/3rd of the world supply when in 1980 the silver price collapsed with 80%. The brothers lost over a billion dollars.
aw8bL TIL Hunter S. Thompson once ran for Sheriff of Aspen. He wanted to rename it to "Fat City", dig up all the roads with sledgehammers and implement a philosophy that "no drug worth taking should be sold for money." He also shaved his head to insult his opponents crew cut.
9w5ZG TIL a Triple Tautonym occurs when a genus, species name, and subspecies name are all the same word. Examples include Gorilla gorilla gorilla (western lowland gorilla) and Pica pica pica (Eurasian magpie). These names are allowed in Zoology but not in Botany.
oBnGK TIL That in 1938 pitchers intentionally walked and pitched around Hank Greenberg as he closed in on Babe Ruth’s (at the time) record of 60 home runs in a season, because they didn’t want a Jew to break Ruth’s record.
d8y07 TIL Sperm whales are the loudest animals on earth. At 236 decibels, their click sounds can literally vibrate a human body to death. But when research divers approach them, the whales welcome them into their pod; while modulating their clicks so the divers aren't hurt.