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5

TIL of the "Summer of the Shark." In the summer of 2001, news outlets in the US began extensive reporting on shark attacks, and didn't stop until the 9-11 attacks. The shark attacks were the 3rd most reported story of the year, despite 2001 seeing fewer attacks than average

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0d5w1 TIL Clarence King, discoverer of Mount Whitney and one of the USA's best-known scientists, revealed on his deathbed in 1901 that he had a second life, wife & five kids, living as a Black man named James Todd.
8nga TIL that the ‘Big Mac Index’ is an economic tool published annually by The Economist to measure the purchasing power parity between two currencies. It compares the cost of Big Macs world-wide to determine whether currencies are over-valued or under-valued.
rNanW TIL about Eugène François Vidocq, a deserter and career criminal who became a police informant and, under Napoléon I's First French Empire, the founder of the Sûreté Nationale, hiring other criminals
6Ebwm TIL about the presocratic philosopher Empedocles. He claimed to have magical powers and a divine status, and would walk around Sicily in a large purple robe. Apparently, he died when he jumped into Etna, an active volcano, to prove to his followers that he really was a god.
NbOP TIL During the Invasion of Normandy, Scottish Bagpiper, Bill Millin, contrary to British Command, in the thick of battle, marched up & down the beach playing his Pipes. When his unit captured German snipers, they asked why Millin wasn’t shot. They said they didn’t shoot because he was clearly mad.