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TIL Jackie Chan once fled to the USA to avoid Hong Kong triads. He claims they once shot at him while he was getting off of a plane and that he later was surrounded by "more than 20 people ... with melon knives ... [I] confronted them with two guns and six grenades".

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4QyX TIL that, when the 1889 Presidential Inauguration occured on a rainy day, the defeated incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, held the new president, Benjamin Harrison’s, umbrella for him while he took the oath of office.
1ar4W TIL about the Phoebus cartel, which in 1925 met in Geneva to curb the longevity of incandescent light bulbs. This is a strategy called "planned obsolescence" to generate repeated sales and maximize profit.
9Q66 TIL Lawns have been a sign of great wealth since the Middle Ages. Neighbors assumed you were wealthy if you had cultivated land, but didn’t have to grow food on it.
Z8dPR TIL Pelorus Jack was a dolphin that used to guide ships through a notoriously dangerous channel in New Zealand. In 1904 someone aboard the SS Penguin tried to shoot Jack with a rifle, he survived and continued to guide all ships except the SS Penguin.
WMGA TIL that during the 50’s a Russian scientist started an experiment with foxes designed to replicate the domestication of wolves. The experiment has continued to this day where 70-80% of the foxes now behave similarly to dogs, but retain the physical features of foxes.