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TIL that in 1820, an 80-ton sperm whale attacked and sank the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts). The tragedy attracted international attention, and inspired Herman Melville to write his famous 1851 novel Moby-Dick.

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LmZm TIL one of the biggest drug lords in history was a woman who built Miami by giving her money to banks, killed two of her husbands, made $80 mil, sold drugs for 50 years, and set the standard for drug trade which led to Pablo Escobar’s success. She only served ten years in prison.
4ZPX TIL A cat named Masha saved a baby’s life. The long-haired red tabby found an abandoned baby in a box in the snow and climbed in to keep the baby warm and meowed to get the attention of a passerby. The abandoned baby was rescued unharmed.
WkMPA TIL that that yodeler Wylie Gustafson, was paid $590 to record the famous “Ya-hooooooooo-oooo” clip for Yahoo. He was told it would be a regional ad only, but two years later it was used during Yahoo’s Super Bowl halftime commercial.
b9ZLa TIL China has an annual holiday known as Tomb Sweeping Day, when citizens visit the graves of their ancestors to leave tributes and burn incense. There are many rules about how to do this respectfully including not driving your car to the grave, and not attempting to summon ghosts.
KYrJ9 TIL in 1906 con man Wilhelm Voigt posed as a Prussian military officer and took a group of troops by train to the town of Köpenick, arresting the mayor and stealing 4000 German marks. He was viewed as a folk hero and the Kaiser later pardoned him. A statue of him stands outside the city hall.