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TIL that many German monks would sustain themselves on nothing but beer and water for the entire 40 days of Lent.

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69rgW TIL in 2005, Microsoft was in talks to acquire spyware developer Claria. During this time, Microsoft started telling users to ignore Claria products, which was a change from Microsoft's original recommendation of removing them.
j676M TIL that Yolanda King (the eldest daughter of MLK JR.) was worried when meeting Attallah Shabazz (the daughter of Malcolm X) they wouldn't get along because of their father's legacies. They found common ground and created "Stepping into Tomorrow" a play about the issues their father's fought for.
4koOa TIL there was a deadlier martime disaster than the Titanic: the Sultana. Carrying 6 times the passengers than it was alotted, the Sultana sank on the Mississippi river killing over 1,100 Union Soldiers. The tragedy did not receive much attention as it was days after the assassination of Lincoln.
OoV97 TIL The Russian island of Big Diomede and the U.S. island of Little Diomede located in the Bering Strait are separated by the International Date Line, making Big Diomede 21 hours ahead of Little Diomede even though they are separated by about 2.4 miles (3.8 km)
NXXVP TIL that the central portion of the Jewish bar mitzvah ceremony, reading from the Torah scroll, dates back only to the 18th and 19th century, although the ceremony has ancient roots and the first use of the term was in the 15th century