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TIL In 1947 a man named Art Lacey bet his friend $5 he couldn’t buy a retired B-17 and turn it into a gas station. After a wild journey including a plane crash, alcohol smuggling, permit skirting, and a cross country trip, he won that bet and it stayed in place for more than six decades

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N7GE6 TIL that the second largest human brain on record belongs to 19th century American doctor, lawyer, schoolmaster, photographer, inventor, carpet designer, phrenologist, and philologist Edward H. Rulloff, who was also a criminal and serial killer.
N7Dob TIL the Iroquois Confederacy, founded by the Great Peacemaker in 1142, is the oldest living participatory democracy on earth. The US constitution was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy.
xV9a5 TIL Greco-Buddhists were the first to carve statues of the Buddha, with the classical Greek emphasis on realism. According to their statues, the bump on top of Buddha's head is his wavy hair tied in a man-bun.
KONbR TIL the term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Communist Bloc. NATO represented the First World, while the Communist Bloc represented the Second World.
4XV5g TIL an island was christened a war ship by the British Navy during a French blockade. The HMS Diamond Rock was fortified with cannons and spent 17 months hammering any passing French ships, and to this day anyone in the British Navy is required to salute the rock when they pass it.