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TIL Charles Dickens wrote the popular Christmas classic, "A Christmas Carol," in six weeks. Dickens was a passionate advocate of the poor and defenseless who experienced his own hardship, at twelve, when his parents and younger brothers were put in debtors’ jail and he had to work off their debts.

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VKD8 TIL in 2007, there was a horrific accident in Tieling, China, where thirty tons of 1500°C molten steel spilled from a ladle and burst into an adjoining room filled with workers, killing 32. It was China’s most serious steel industry accident since 1949. Bodies had to be identified by DNA testing.
lo941 TIL a coin flip actually has a 51/49 probability of landing heads or tails -- favoring the side facing up when flipped. If you spin a US penny on its side, however, it has an 80% chance of landing tails up.
j6N9p TIL Tucson is the longest continuously inhabited region in the US stretching back for at least 4,000 years
b9mxE TIL If a woman falsely believes she is pregnant that belief can trigger a swollen abdomen, enlarged breasts and lactation.
V5Ep TIL that Daddy Longlegs have been around for at least 400 million years, barely changing, and predate the dinosaurs.