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TIL that Morocco was the first country to recognize the US as an independent country and during the Revolutionary War, the Sultan of Morocco promised safe passage from Barbary Pirates for all merchant American ships traveling across the Atlantic

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mYbO TIL there’s a website called freerice.com that asks you vocabulary questions, and donates 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme for every question you answer correctly.
7rnxX TIL we are currently living in an era called "The Long Peace", a period of peace which has not been seen since the Roman Empire. There are now less than 10 reported deaths per million each year due to war.
nR7P TIL Grizzly bears were so feared and respected by Native Americans that hunting them required a company of 4 to 10 warriors and was done with the same preparation and ceremoniality as intertribal warfare.
4kd46 TIL about the drafting tool known as a "french curve", which can let a person draw smooth curves of basically any desired curvature depending on the scale. It's a tool where you don't need any complicated measurements, and has a very large amount of uses from architecture to fashion!
JdO1 TIL, in the early 1900s engineers actually reversed the Chicago River’s flow. It still flows in the opposite direction.