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TIL there were originally 3 species of parrot found in the United States but 2 of the 3 are now extinct due to human activity and the 3rd is only found in 1 state.

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l75rG TIL that before 1933 King Kong film came out, a novel based on the screenplay was released as part of the advertising campaign, which is opposite of more common route of films that start as novels before being adapted into a screenplay
YvJP TIL Red placebo pills are more effective than Blue placebo pills
woP81 TIL, that after Captain James Cook's death by Hawaiian natives during his third voyage, a theatrical production of his voyage opened in Paris, and later London. The "grand serious pantomimic ballet", set on ‘The Island of O-Why-e in the South Sea’, had little resemblance to any actual event.
x61o1 TIL that famous Egyptologist Howard Carter's gravestone has a quote from the Wishing Cup of Tutankhamun, an artifact that he discovered. It reads "May your spirit live, may you spend millions of years, you who love Thebes, sitting with your face to the north wind, your eyes beholding happiness."
yQNBJ TIL that Blue fireworks are the Holy Grail of the pyrotechnic world because the chemistry needs to be absolutely perfect to produce them.