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150

TIL August 24 is the anniversary of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the devastation of Pompeii (79 A.D.). The city was buried under 14 to 17 feet of ash and pumice, and would not be rediscovered again until 1748.

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Yprer TIL that when USPS Parcel Post began, a banker mailed 40 tons of bricks to his new bank location because the cost was lower than commercial freight.
5VnK9 TIL about Hunger Stones that were embedded into rivers during droughts in Central Europe to mark the water level as a warning to future generations. One stone reads "if you see me, weep".
QN8de TIL it is estimated that there are are about twice as many horses as there are people on Easter Island (6,000 vs. 3,000)
5ZVk TIL a Texas man barricaded himself in his home after biting a police officer during a traffic stop, and refused to come out for more than a decade
WkNP4 TIL Harvey Ball, the graphic designer who designed the yellow smiley face icon in 1963, was only paid $45 for his work. The Smiley Company, which licenses the image, made $419.9 million in 2017.