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TIL of George Francis Train. He founded railroads, built parts of the transcontinental railroad and found a horse drawn tram in London. He traveled around the world in 80 days in 1870 and claimed: "Verne stole my thunder. I'mPhileas Fogg".

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XB96 TIL A letter was sent to Martin Luther King, sounding as if coming from a disappointed admirer, urging King to kill himself or risk evidence of adultery being leaked. King believed it was from the FBI. The Senate’s Church Committee on intelligence overreach confirmed King’s suspicion.
JY181 Did you wake up today with a craving for clay, or dirt? That’s called pica, an abnormal craving for substances other than typical food. If you went ahead and acted on your impulse, it's probably a good idea to head over to your doctor’s office. Research indicates that in most cases this craving is a result of a mineral or vitamin deficiency. This brings us to this week’s Today I Learned, as National Geographic Society grantee and ornithologist Luke Powell explains why macaws regularly munch on South American rain forest clay. Yummy! All animals (including humans) need salt to live. Animals that live in the Amazon rain forest face a curious predicament due to the way the Andes mountain range affects weather coming from the Pacific Ocean. This geography results in an extreme lack of salt in the Amazon and, consequentially, some unique behaviors and appetites.EDITOR: Laurence AlexanderSERIES PRODUCER: Chris Mattle
9mRp TIL of the “Demon Duck of Doom,” an extinct flightless bird that lived in what is now Australia. It stood over 8 ft tall, and had a skull larger than that of some horses. Despite the nickname, it was more closely related to the chicken.
gr6AW TIL orcas cultural fads. In the 1980s one such fad was wearing dead salmon as hats. It spread to three separate Pacific pods before suddenly going out of style.
wLbeY TIL Human sperm doesn’t wiggle as previously thought, it spins like a “playful otter”