› added 1 month ago

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TIL: After the trans-Saharan slave trade ended, Muslim-African Hajj pilgrims were deceived by tribal leaders, who offered low-cost travel to the East Coast. Upon arrival, they were trafficked across the Red Sea and sold into slavery in Saudi Arabia, instead of being allowed to perform the Hajj.

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E57X TIL Muhammad Ali stopped a man from trying to kill himself (by jumping off a building) and he was originally named in honor of a white abolitionist.
nedw7 TIL that Voltaire teamed up with a mathematician to exploit a loophole in the French lottery that set him up financially for life
On1X TIL that all meat in a Subway’s Cold Cut Combo sandwich (ham, salami and bologna) is actually made from turkey…
y7b8 TIL John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ was originally called 'Something that Happened’ because nobody can really be blamed for the story’s events.
9wkLr TIL one of the holiest sites in Shinto, the Ise Grand Shrine in Japan is rebuilt completely using traditional materials and methods every 20 years, costing ~500 million USD every time. This includes everything inside the complex except the Sacred Mirror. The next scheduled rebuilding is in 2033.