› added 11 years ago

90

TIL That during the American Revolution we used “Columbia” to describe all of America, like we say, “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, ‘Murica!” That’s why the capital is called Washington, District of Columbia.

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BjGW TIL the U.S. spends roughly $50.1B in foreign aid each year which is only 1.2% of the Federal government’s budget.
b6vNa TIL Over 40 buildings in New York City are so large that they have their own zip codes.
newkG TIL that there were no ponies used in the Pony Express, just horses.
0wBry TIL HSBC (The Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp) was founded to handle the British side of the Chinese opium trade.
D1eJj TIL Hutton Gibson, father of critically acclaimed actor Mel Gibson, is a Jeopardy champion and Holocaust denier. He also believes in 9/11 conspiracy theories and rejects the Second Vatican Council because it is "a Masonic plot backed by the Jews".