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TIL about the Travels of Sir John Mandeville, a 14th century account of an Englishman's travels across Asia to India and China. It contains references to strange creatures such as cyclopes, phoenixes and otters

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VMGXB TIL that more modest two-piece swim suits were popular in the US before the government ordered a 10% reduction in fabric used in woman's swimwear in 1943 as wartime rationing.
rRoxy TIL co-writer of "Take Me Home, Country Roads," Bill Danoff, had never been to West Virginia and actually considered using Massachusetts in the lyrics instead. He also later went on to write and record the 1976 #1 hit "Afternoon Delight."
wooWY TIL The hood ornament on a Rolls Royce, officially called The Spirit of Ecstasy, was based on Eleanor Thornton, a British model and actress, and mistress of Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (and bore him a child), who died on the SS Persia which was sunk in the Mediterranean by a U-Boat during WW I.
Qy5e TIL: Freddie Mercury was Indian and took much pride in this, though it is generally over shadowed by him being an iconic British Rockstar
rN1ye TIL the construction crews on the Golden Gate Bridge were forced to wear their safety equipment under threat of dismissal. (For the first time in history) They also used other safety equipment and procedures to reduce fatalities on the job.