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TIL that France lost so many workers during its failed attempt to dig the Panama Canal, that for a time their project’s MAIN source of income was selling the corpses (pickled in brine water) to medical schools all over the world as cadavers.

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OOX TIL Jackie Chan not only voiced the leading male role in the Chinese version of “Mulan” but also preformed the song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.”
xVGkw TIL about practice babies. In the early to mid 1900s, orphaned babies were lent out to college home economics programs where they were taken care of entirely by groups of students in order to learn child-rearing skills.
wLGG6 TIL that Ford almost bought Ferrari in the early 60's, but Enzo Ferrari killed the deal when he learned he wouldn't oversee the racing division anymore. Henry Ford II was so pissed that he directed his engineers to build a car that would beat Ferrari at Le Mans, which it did from 1966–1969.
5Vn0B TIL that since 2011 the first three digits of Social Security Numbers no longer are assigned by geographic location.
ADQ9B TIL Jack was a baboon purchased by a railway signalman who lost his legs in an accident. The Baboon began to operate the railway, and was eventually given a job and salary. In 9 years of employment, he never made a mistake.