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TIL of The Eye of Argon, a fantasy novella written by a 16 year old in 1970, which became popular and beloved as the "worst fantasy novel ever." It found fame at conventions, through live readings and party games. In a 1984 interview, the author said that he was hurt by this, and never wrote again.

0wk0j TIL when Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire was stepping out of her carriage one day, an Irish dustman exclaimed: "Love and bless you, my lady, let me light my pipe in your eyes!" Thereafter, whenever others complimented her, she would say, "After the dustman's compliment, all others are insipid."
XE4WX TIL that upon imprisonment American Psychologist Timothy Leary was given psychological tests designed to aid placing inmates in jobs that were best suited to them. Leary himself had designed a few of them and used that knowledge to get a low-security gardening assignment, and escaped.
N8d1 TIL that, while filming an episode of a reality TV show in Doncaster prison, chef Gordon Ramsay was so impressed by the speed at which a prisoner chopped vegetables that Ramsay offered him a job at his restaurant following his release in 2007
ylw TIL that followers of Native American Church can legally use, transport and possess peyote.
RGvl TIL Musa I of Mali was so wealthy, when he made his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, he had 12,000 slaves who each carried 4 pounds of gold and 80 camels that carried 50-300 pounds of gold. He gave away so much gold to the poor in the areas he visited, it devastated the economy and caused inflation