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TIL that Victor Hugo wrote the Hunchback of Norte-Dame to inform people of the value of Gothic architecture, which was being neglected and destroyed at the time. This explains the large descriptive sections of the book, which far exceed the requirements of the story.

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PJdw TIL the primitive immune system of a horseshoe crab makes them useful to humans. Every drug certified by the FDA must be tested using an extract from their blood cells. Their blood is worth ~$15,000 a quart. A horseshoe crab can be bled, returned to the ocean, and after time, can give blood again.
vPX7B TIL that in 1883, the tiny community of Lijar in Spain declared war against France for insulting the Spanish king. They declared peace 1983 after negotiating a peace treaty, and no actual fighting ever took place.
eG6n TIL Black US servicemen on duty in Australia during WWII were treated so poorly by their white superiors that they rioted and are said to have used 30,000 rounds of machine gun ammo firing at the tents of their white superiors.
b6O6j TIL The Peace Arch Park lies between the U.S. and Canadian border crossings north of Seattle. During the COVID lockdowns couples could meet at the park to be together. It was the site of many lockdown weddings. Newlyweds had to return to their own country after.
NXLnE TIL about Gungywamp, an archeological site in Connecticut consisting of ruins and artifacts that is theorized to have evidence of Pre-Columbian European settlement of the Americas, including 5th century Irish monks or Norsemen