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TIL of a French colony in Texas in the 1680’s which was wiped out by Karankawa Native Americans in 1688. Four surviving children of the colonists were adopted by the tribe.

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xNXw TIL Snake Oil was a real product sold by the Clark Stanley company, and in 1917 the U.S. Govt. had a bottle of it tested, but discovered that it contained inert ingredients and no actual oils extracted from snakes. The government sued and won damages of $20.
wLjR8 TIL that Peter Jackson spent the last few years working on a special technology which revives old B&W WW1 footage and is portraying it in full colour in his new movie "They Shall Not Grow Old". Jackson used authentic WW1 uniform and real weaponry which was used back then to create this restoration.
4XX16 TIL that the number 1 billion in most countries in continental Europe equates to 1 million millions instead of 1 thousand millions like it does in many English and Arabic speaking countries, Brazil, and the former Soviet Union countries.
rNna0 TIL the interesting number paradox, which suggests that if we classify natural numbers as "interesting" or "uninteresting," a contradiction arises: the smallest uninteresting number becomes interesting simply by being the smallest in its set. This implies that every natural number is interesting.
pY4mN TIL the Vaquita are the smallest of all living cetaceans and the most endangered with fewer than 10 alive.