› added 3 weeks ago

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TIL that in the late 1600s, a pirate named Henry Every led the most profitable pirate raid of all time, stealing £600,000 in precious metals and jewels (worth around $141 million today) from a convoy belonging to the Mughal Empire. This led to the first worldwide manhunt. He was never found.

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4XBR TIL that Rush Limbaugh used his show’s theme - the bassline from “My City Was Gone”, by The Pretenders, without permission. When the song’s writer found out, she demanded that her royalties from Rush’s use of the song be donated to PETA.
W4VY TIL a Komodo dragon may attempt to speed up the process of swallowing a carcass by ramming the carcass against a tree to force it down its throat, sometimes ramming so forcefully, the tree is knocked down.
mJgP TIL after French soldier Jean Bernadotte showed kindness to a few Swedish soldiers, he became so popular in Sweden that the Swedes decided to make him their king when a vacancy came up, despite him never having set foot in Sweden before. The House of Bernadotte rules Sweden to this day.
G0ZJ TIL That when NOFX bassist Fat Mike caused controversy by elbowing and kicking a fan, he publicly apologized by buying him a beer and letting him kick him back.
MKNW TIL that Jeff Bezos wanted to name Amazon “Relentless,” but friends talked him out of it. Relentless.com still directs you to Amazon.com.