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TIL of Timothy Dexter - a barely literate American businessman, who was desperate for public office, and became wealthy through a series of improbable investments.

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79jP TIL That during WW2 more people died manufacturing the German V2 rocket than were killed by the actual use of the weapon.
0wnGy TIL Scrooge's famous cry for the poor to die and thereby 'decrease the surplus population' was most likely a reference to Thomas Malthus who had written a generation before about the economic dangers of a lack of war, plague and famine.
epap5 TIL unlike dogs and cats, parrots are not domesticated animals. They are inherently wild, which makes them destructive and noisy companions. Their calls are designed to be heard miles away and not meant for a human home. They're one of the most discarded pets in the US.
kJrL4 TIL "The Diary of Anne Frank" was pulled out of a rejection pile at Doubleday by editor Judith Jones. After reading it all day, she insisted to her boss that it must be published. He said, 'What? That book by that kid?'
PV5G TIL 1 in 10 Icelanders publish a book in their lifetime