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TIL the country of Micronesia consists of 607 islands with a combined area of 271 sq miles of land that sit in 1.2 million sq miles of ocean.

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wLPpP TIL that from atop Telescope Peak in Death Valley, CA, one can see both the highest point (Mt Whitney) and the lowest point (Badwater Basin) in the Continental US.
7rYQb TIL in 2013 a California couple discovered a trove of gold coins in their backyard while walking their dog. Tucked away in eight buried cans were 1,427 rare mint-condition coins dating from 1847 to 1894. A rare coin expert who represents the finders, appraised the U.S. coins at $11 million.
QN7DX TIL smelt are naturally-occurring "GMOs": in the only known case of horizontal gene transfer between animals, they "stole" their gene for antifreeze protein from the very distantly related herring
woXd7 TIL that Joseph Smith, the founder of the LDS Church, aka Mormon Church, was assassinated in 1844 in Illinois by a mob. He was running for president at the time and is the first presidential candidate in US History to be assassinated
7rvEM TIL that Star Wars lore was heavily influenced by Hinduism. George Lucas was a fan of the works of Joseph Campbell and his seminal book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. Campbell was responsible for popularizing many Hindu legends and theological concepts in the West through his works.