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TIL Agatha Christie wrote a novel in 1941 about World War 2 codebreaking featuring a character named Major Bletchley. Due to this, she was investigated by MI5, but the naming turned out to be coincidental and unrelated to the then secret codebreaking in Bletchley Park.

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jNW9v TIL pirates accepted gay marriage and often had relationships with other male pirates for protection and companionship. Pirates enmeshed in matelotage shared everything from affection and other sexual partners to possessions.
epyl6 TIL octopuses deliberately throw shells at each other. Researchers found that 66% of throws were made by females, often in response to mating attempts. For a creature with no thumbs or rotator cuffs, they had a 17% hit rate.
yV7Gl TIL in 1876, Texas set aside vast tracts of land for the state university system. At the time the land was considered to be worthless but was later found to contain oil. As of 2015 the fund is worth $17 billion.
kOKNg TIL: An American Bigfoot hoaxer was run over and killed as he stood in the road trying to startle drivers.
DQANY TIL a distant relative of modern dragonflies had a wingspan of about 30 inches