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TIL during the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, an entire train station, with its buildings, trains, and platforms, was swept into the ocean by a mudslide. 112 people were killed, plus an additional 200 people living in the vicinity.

wLGeE TIL the U.S. Navy tried to remove a whale carcass with dynamite. A veteran with explosives training warned the amount of dynamite was far too much – advice that went unheeded. His brand-new car, purchased during a "Get a Whale of a Deal" promotion, was then flattened by a chunk of falling blubber.
5YAr9 TIL In 1978, two Monty Python comedians shot a scene dressed up as John Lennon and Paul McCartney and then tourists, thinking they were the Beatles, asked for their autographs, while the actual George Harrison, who they didn’t recognize, stood nearby laughing his ass off.
VKOZ TIL that the Norse Sagas which describe the historical pre-Columbus Viking discovery of North America also say that they met Native Americans who could speak a language that sounded similar to Irish, and who said that they’d already encountered white men before them.
LWQd TIL The USA adopted the metric system in 1975, but the Reagan administration used budget cuts to halt the final implementation.
PYVmE TIL that 2 donkeys that have been together for 10 years at a zoo in Poland were separated after a local politician and parents complained about them mating in front of children. Experts weighted in and a petition to rejoin them got 7,000 signatures so the zoo put them back together.