› added 5 years ago

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TIL that it is estimated that 108 billion Homo sapiens have been born since 50,000 years ago

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via reddit.com

M7eQV TIL about king Wuyi of Shang dynasty of China. He humiliated an idol called the god of heaven after playing a game with it when it lost the game. He also shot a leather bag filled with blood in the sky and said he was shooting the heavens.He was killed by lightening while on a hunting trip.
1pmV TIL: Whiskey with an “e” comes from Ireland whilst Whisky without an “e” come from Scotland and Canada.
xMJw TIL that in the ‘60s, the C.I.A. paid Vietnamese spies with merchandise from mail-order Sears catalogs, since they had little use for paper money
Z8Vya TIL that Henry Darger, a hospital custodian, wrote The Story of the Vivian Girls, a 15,000 page novel with hundreds of watercolor illustrations. He never showed it to anyone, and it was only found when he died.
LkNwQ TIL In 2009, Stephen Hawking threw a party at the University of Cambridge, complete with balloons, hors d'oeuvres and iced champagne. Just as expected, nobody showed up because he only sent out invitations after his party was over. It was, he said, "a welcome reception for future time travelers,".