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TIL Victor Hugo once asked his publisher how his novel “Les Miserables” was doing with a telegram consisting only of “?”. The publisher’s response was “!”

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rRX7o TIL "Point Blank Range" is not necessarily a close shot, but the range at which a gun can shoot directly at a target without any elevation of the barrel.
Br4AW TIL In 1946 Yoshio Tamiya started a sawmill and lumber company in Shizuok, Japan. With an ample supply of raw material available, Tamiya soon began producing wooden model ships, and by the early 1950s the company had transitioned its business solely to model making and it also has a model museum
p8jYb TIL many versions of The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby are headed by the Vonnegut quote "Verdict: Excellent book by a genius". However, these editions remove the last words of the quote, which is "Excellent book by a genius who will do anything to get attention".
BrVyx TIL the CEO of GM, Mary Barra, changed the workplace dress code from a complicated 10-page document to two words: "Dress appropriately."
0w64M TIL on January 8th 1297, Francois Grimaldi, a genoan dressed as a Franciscan friar, captured the castle of Monaco by ruse. His descendants still rule Monaco today.