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TIL that the official cause of Houdini's death on Halloween in 1926 was diffuse peritonitis; this is the result of a burst appendix. J. Gordon Whitehead's sucker punch did not cause his death because Houdini died 6 days later after the punch, and it was caused from a bacterial infection.

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4XRON TIL in 1886 two brothers in Tennessee, Alf and Bob Taylor, ran for Governor against each other in a campaign called the War of the Roses. Instead of debates and personal attacks that previous elections saw, they traveled the state together, campaigning, playing fiddles, and playing practical jokes
R5xDQ TIL in 2005, a guy named Doug Heckman read the EULA before he installed some PC software. The agreement included a clause offering 'financial compensation' to licensees who actually read the license agreement. He emailed the company, referred to the clause and the company sent him a check for $1,000
X0rpE TIL: Famous HBCU Howard University was founded by and named for Union General Oliver Otis Howard, a civil war hero and abolitionist who fought for the rights of African Americans during Reconstruction.
X0BZQ TIL that the music video for Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train" led to 21 missing people being found.
dBpj TIL the hoverboard was invented for real in April 2016. Powered by six compact jet engines totaling 1000 HP (equivalent to four automobile engines), and stabilized with Segway-like algorithmic balancing, it has a flight time of 10 minutes using a camelbak filled with jet fuel.