› added 7 years ago

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TIL The most powerful pirate ever was a woman. Ching Shih, a former prostitute, controlled 1,800 pirate ships and 80,000 men.

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R7gV4 TIL early coffee shops in England were frequented by students, philosophers, and other intellectuals who engaged in reasoned debate on the latest issues of the day. The shops charge a penny for admission, and were dubbed ‘Penny Universities’ for the alternative form of education they offered
b68V7 TIL Wilbur and Orville were not the only Wright Brothers. There were five brothers and two sisters (including a twin boy and girl who died in infancy). Katharine promoted the Wright's work in Europe and marched in a women's suffrage parade with her elderly father and two of her surviving brothers.
R7g6a TIL that there was extensive research into a cigarette that wasn’t as cancerous, but the project was scrapped just before mass production because of threats by another Tobacco company
gM1pb TIL about Pando,the largest (6 million kilograms) and one of the oldest (~80,000 years old) organisms on earth. Because quaking aspen trees reproduce better through suckering than seeding, the 106 acre grove of quaking aspens in south central Utah is a single organism with shared genetic code.
e0VoE TIL Minnesota keeps the original Confederate flag hidden and refuses to give it up, even when Virginia sued for it