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TIL that Daniel Fahrenheit (who invented the mercury thermometer) set 0°F to the coldest stable temperature he could maintain in his lab by dissolving salt in water.

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xV1No TIL of Idlewild, Michigan which from 1912 until the end of segregation was known as ‘The Black Eden’ - one of the few places where black Americans could fish, hunt, vacation, party and buy land in peace, without interference.
yQkwv TIL when Will Smith was 12, his grandma found his profanity-laced notebook and wrote, "Dear Will, truly intelligent people don't have to use words like this to express themselves. Please show the world that you're as smart as we think you are," on the back -- inspiring him to be a "clean" rapper.
N7Qy1 TIL In 1979 the Black-footed ferret was declared extinct. In 1981 the species was rediscovered when a dog in Meeteetse, Wyoming brought a dead ferret home. A small population was found and today the Black-footed ferret is making a comeback.
LQrJV TIL that there is a Disney Professor of Archaeology at Cambridge, named for its benefactor, antiquarian John Disney.
neJgB TIL Harrison Schmitt, the last man to walk on the moon, had an allergic reaction to moondust