› added 6 years ago

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TIL that after beating an unarmed Charles Sumner on the Senate floor with a cane, Preston Brooks challenged Massachusetts Representative Anson Burlingame to a duel. Burlingame, who was a well-known marksman, immediately accepted and choose rifles as the weapon. Brooks neglected to show up.

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wLXJ8 TIL all Porsche cars have the ignition on the left side of the steering-wheel. This comes from an idea at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race when drivers had to start the car themselves, this way the driver could start the car with his left hand while put it in gear with his right hand and start faster.
W76Ld TIL it took world population over 2 million years to reach 1 billion, but only 207 more to grow to 7 billion.
RB9w TIL Farmers, Truckers, and Roofers have a higher on-the-job mortality rate than police officers
gJ8A TIL that Tsutomo Yamaguchi (the man who survived both atom bombs) traveled 180 miles home to return to work despite his intense injuries from the first bomb. When he arrived at work his boss didn’t believe that one bomb destroyed all of Hiroshima. Then the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
W7ErY TIL about Ponte City, a 55 story circular apartment building in Johannesburg, South Africa. Built in 1975, in the 80s gang activity made the area very unsafe and garbage thrown into the open core reached 5 stories high. It has since been restored and is once again a desirable place to live.