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TIL that in 1772, Alexander Hamilton survived a hurricane in the Caribbean and wrote a letter about his ordeal. His vivid descriptions moved people to start a fund to move him to New York to get an education. He went on to become a Founding Father and greatly shaped our early nation.

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oaDr TIL that the three highest paid employees of the Department of Defense are Football coaches for the Military, Navy, and Air Force Academies, with one making $1.6mil in 2012.
j6yRp TIL In the 1870s, the city of Liège, Belgium tried to train 37 cats to deliver the mail. It was unsuccessful.
xVX9b TIL that Japanese people traditionally eat KFC for Christmas dinner, thanks to a successful marketing campaign 40 years ago. KFC is so popular that customers must place their Christmas orders 2 months in advance.
97VD TIL in Chile, the the act of not wearing underwear has been called “to go gringo-style” (andar a lo gringo)
X0ZdP TIL Manfred Clyne proved human emotions to be transmissible via a recording of pressure sensitive clicks. Aborigines in Central Australia were able to correctly identify emotions from sounds derived from the touch of white urban Americans