› added 8 years ago

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TIL that Alexander Von Humboldt has more things named after him than any other person who has ever lived.

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ANK8x TIL haggis has been banned from being imported into the US since 1971 due to a ban on food containing sheep lung
QAGL TIL that in 1941, Hitler named Hermann Göring his successor should Hitler be incapacitated. In 1945 when Hitler made it known his plan to commit suicide, Göring sent a telegram to Hitler, requesting permission to assume control of the Reich. Hitler viewed this as treason and had Göring arrested.
VpmG TIL Liberia was established by citizens of the United States as a colony for former African American slaves and their free black descendants.
JE1k TIL when his heir died childless, the estate of British scientist James Smithson passed to the U.S. government. American diplomat Richard Rush was sent to England to collect the money, and returned with today’s equivalent of $11M in gold coins, which was used to found the Smithsonian Institution.
epavE TIL that Richard Sorge was a Soviet spy in Japan during WWII. He had an open affair with the German ambassador’s wife, and told Stalin that Japan would NOT invade Russia, allowing the Soviets to move troops just in time to save Moscow in 1941.