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TIL the inspiration for the novel Fight Club came to Chuck Palahniuk after he got in a fight on vacation. When he returned back to work none of his coworkers would ask what happened.

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WNAB TIL that Versailles’s over 2000 fountains consumed more water per day than the entire city of Paris. To solve the water shortage, the fountaineers would signal each other upon the king’s approach to turn on the fountain. Once the king passed the fountain, it would be turned off again.
p8gnA TIL that before British rule, India represented 30% of global GDP, by their independence it dropped to 2%. At the same time, Britain's share of the world economy rose from 2.9% in 1700 up to 9% in 1870 alone
j4kp TIL that Mark Haub, a professor at Kansas State University, went on a “convenience store” diet which mainly consisted of Twinkies, Oreos, and Doritos to demonstrate that counting calories is what matters most in weight loss, not the nutritional value in food. He lost 27 pounds in only two months.
8w8Z TIL sharks have been around for longer than trees
NXpmE TIL between 1970 and 1976 alone, between 25 and 50 percent of Native American women were sterilized.