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TIL of Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian Explorer. In 1909, he tried to be the first man to reach the North Pole, but was beaten by Robert Peary. Upon hearing of Peary’s victory, Amundsen immediately mounted an expedition to the South Pole, which he became the first to reach in 1911.

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xVbe7 TIL that before a key battle in Alexander the Great's campaign in Persia, the Persian king offered Alexander generous terms for peace. One of Alexander's generals is said to have remarked: "I would accept the terms, if I were you". Alexander responded: "So would I, if I were you". He won.
jw0j TIL: The Pirate Bay once tried to purchase their own island in an attempt to create their own country without any copyright laws.
OGP7e TIL Monty Python came to Germany in 1972, long before many other countries. The comedians were invited by Alfred Biolek to make TV specials in Germany, the first was performed phonetically and the second was dubbed. Terry Jones could still recite the German lumberjack song fourty years later.
XENMr TIL The popular Frisbee game originated from schoolchildren throwing the pie dishes from a local bakery called Frisbee's.
xVKr1 TIL about Clive Wearing, a former conductor and musician who suffers from chronic anterograde and retrograde due to a virus fever in 1985. He lacks the ability to form new memories and cannot recall past memories. He lives life believing that he has only recently awoken from a comatose state.