› added 9 months ago

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TIL the richest person in the world was Mansa Musa, the 14th Century West African ruler, perhaps equal to $400bn in today's money. When he traveled to Cairo, he gave out so much gold that it depreciated the value of gold and caused over a billion dollars in economic losses in the Middle East.

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VB4Mk TIL that in 2000, scientists revived a bacteria believed to be 250 million years old found buried 1,850 feet underground in New Mexico
neRWG TIL: Men have nipples because embryos are always female in their early stages, and males only differentiate from the female after a few weeks
4knn5 TIL of William Walker, an American physician, lawyer, journalist, mercenary, slavery supporter, and Southern folk hero from from Tennessee. Walker seized control of Nicaragua from 1856 to 1857, and convinced many U.S. Southerners of the desirability of creating a Confederate empire in Latin America.
nLWb TIL last year the 80 richest people in the world had more wealth than half the world’s population combined. Only 4 years earlier the number was 388.
5P0r TIL The chances of us eating even one spider in our sleep throughout our lifetime is close to 0%