› added 13 years ago

183

TIL If Bill Gates was a country, he would be the 37th richest country on earth.

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QNenX TIL that Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, Sigmund Freud and Tito all lived in Vienna at the same time (around 1913), just within a few kilometres of each other.
PYrrL TIL Cats have whiskers on their front legs
wLPA1 TIL the origin of the phrase “steal my thunder” is an 18th century playwright who created a machine that recreated thunder noises for a cancelled play. When he attended a later play in the same theatre and heard it used, he cried "Damn them! They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder."
VRNZ TIL that British scientist James Smithson donated his entire fortune to the United States (worth 1/66th of the entire US budget) to create the Smithsonian Institution despite never having visited the United States. He left no explanation of his motivation.
D7ZY TIL The Giant Redwood Tree is so tall that in order to get water near the top of the tree, it uses “air roots” to collect water out of the fog.