› added 9 years ago

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TIL there was a con man in India, who repeatedly sold the Taj Mahal, the Indian parliament and various other heritage sites. He was sentenced to 113 years but managed to escape prison 9 times, last when he was 84 years old.

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KOEJ4 TIL that in 2007, the islet of Pontinha became an independent nation after the owner, Renato Barros, an art teacher, noticed a legal loophole in the sale charter issued by the King of Portugal in 1903.
xVBA0 TIL the 5th Governor of California, John Weller, was anti-slavery, wanting to use his power to eliminate it. The 6th Governor, lasted only 5 days in office, before resigning. The 7th Governor, John Downey, was pro-slavery, owning upwards of 25 slaves at one time.
p8vbA TIL that while preparing a speech to create a permanent soil erosion service, Hugh H. Bennett was notified of a dust storm approaching Washington DC. He pushed back meeting with Congress until it was estimated to arrive to conclude with opening up the curtains to a dramatic view of a dust storm.
lo8wB TIL homosexual males and females have a smaller INAH 3 (interstitial nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus) than heterosexual males and the region has been observed to have a direct influence in sexual behavior in animals
N7O0N TIL George Washington was referred to in Algonquian as Conotocarious, a term meaning “Devourer of Cities”. He inherited the name from his great-grandfather, who ordered a massacre on five chieftains during a diplomatic parley in Bacon’s Rebellion.