› added 7 years ago

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TIL: 90% of wealthy families lose their fortunes in three generations

Read more theglobeandmail.com

via reddit.com

RpX6 TIL celebrated British military surgeon James Barry was found to be a woman on his death
AD4rB TIL that the first life insurance policy was written in 1583 in London and was for a term of one year. The insured died on day 364. The company underwriting the policy then tried to weasel out of paying by claiming they meant a lunar year (12 months of 28 days each). They lost and had to pay out.
6980W TIL In 1902, Lionel Walter Rothschild brought 6 Edible Dormice (Glis glis) back to Tring, England from Hungary. Some of the 6 escaped, breeding and growing to an estimated 10,000 mice in a 200 mile radius around Tring that are both an invasive species and protected species.
aweGo TIL over 80% of the world have never flown on an airplane
mxbAR TIL about Phineas Gage who survived a traumatic brain injury when an iron rod was driven through his entire skull, destroying much of his frontal lobe.