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TIL members of Lewis & Clark's expedition took mercury-bearing pills to "treat" constipation and other conditions, and thus left mercury deposits wherever they dug their latrines. These mercury signals have been used to pinpoint some of the 600 camps on the voyage.

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X0k6r TIL In the 1970s, North Korea ordered 1,000 Volvo cars from Sweden. The cars were shipped and delivered, but North Korea simply ignored the invoice and refused to pay. Till this day the bill for $70 Million remains unpaid making it the largest car theft in history
rRxBw TIL that King Edward IV borrowed $348 from Oxford University in 1861. The king paid back $160 but never covered the remaining $224. The debt was forgotten until 1996, when it was rediscovered and calculated to have accumulated to $290 Billion.
9wMpQ TIL that there’s at least one parasitic plant that mimics the host plant it is feeding off of — even if that “plant” is fake. The mechanism of this remains unsolved. “Plant sight” via its epidermis cells is considered one possibility.
RE5l TIL since 1967 there has always been a plane in the air above the US which has the ability to retarget and launch nuclear missiles without the crew in the underground missile silos being involved.
6EnZw TIL of Boone Helm, an old-west serial killer and cannibal who, at his execution, yelled "Hurrah for Jeff Davis! Let 'er rip!" and then jumped off of the hangman's box before the executioner could kick it away.