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TIL that in 1867, when a San Francisco policeman wanted to involuntarily commit an insane but harmless man who declared himself emperor, the police chief refused, saying “that he had shed no blood; robbed no one; and despoiled no country; which is more than can be said of his fellows in that line.”

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ep7Yb TIL in 1613, a Japanese daimyo sent an embassy to Rome, crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and visiting the Philippines, Mexico, and Spain along the way
nWJXd TIL when a newly discovered sponge-like fungi was named after SpongeBob SquarePants in 2011, a mycological research journal initially rejected the name for being “too frivolous”. When challenged, the scientists stood behind their discovery, saying “we’ll name it whatever we like”.
yQnbl TIL In 2013, Toronto surpassed Chicago as the fourth largest city in North America. Except for a brief rise in the 1990s, Chicago’s population has been steadily shrinking since the 1950s, when it was the nation’s second largest city
VBPm TIL that 35 million years ago, with the force of millions of nuclear weapons, an asteroid slammed into earth instantly turning the ground below it into diamonds
owQE TIL that after Tom Cruise called Brooke Shields ‘irresponsible’ for claiming that she medically cured her postpartum depression, she responded “Tom should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them”