› added 4 years ago

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TIL Sylvester H. Roper invented what may have been the first motorcycle. He died when he fell off his invention while racing riders on normal bicycles. The cause of death was found to be heart failure, although it is unknown if the crash was the cause of it, or if his heart failed before the crash.

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VoW0 TIL that women working in watchmaking factories in the early 1900’s received deadly doses of radiation from licking the paintbrushes they used to paint Glow-in-the-dark details on said watches.
v1LYj TIL that Johnny Cash was the first man outside the Soviet Union to learn of Stalin's death due to working as a Morse code operator, intercepting enemy military messages.
78G1Z TIL that the French-controlled Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean was named so to pay homage to the meeting of the fédérés of Marseilles and the Paris National Guards. The word réunion in French means meeting rather than reunion.
J1Gm TIL that the ’S’ in Harry S. Truman’s name didn’t stand for anything, as it was a common practice among the Scots-Irish
Lkbvv TIL Jang Song Thaek, once the second-most powerful figure in North Korea, was reportedly a supporter of Chinese-style economic reforms. Beijing's top leaders were surprised by Mr. Jang's abrupt downfall in 2013