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TIL In 1911, Bobby Leach was the 2nd person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. He died 15 years later from slipping on an orange peel and getting gangrene

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D18vD TIL that The smell of fresh-cut grass is a signal of distress.
9Gnp TIL that soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor receive a number of additional benefits, including a pension of $1,300 beyond any other retirement pay, space-available air travel on military transport for their entire lives, and admission to military academies for their children.
op68 TIL Victoria is the Capital of Seychelles!
PNLV TIL that Cleopatra was born of a LOT of incest: there were 3 brother-sister marriages and 3 uncle-niece marriages within 4 (patrilineal) generations, such that her family tree collapses to a single couple.
DWRr TIL a platinum weight kept in a French vault that defines a perfect kg keeps experiencing minor fluctuations in mass. Now a perfect crystal sphere that took two years to polish and has a fixed number of atoms is being developed as the new standard