› added 6 years ago

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TIL that Pluto was not only named after the god of the underworld, but the first two letters were a homage to Percival Lowell, the scientist who initiated the search for a celestial body beyond Neptune.

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kOdlE TIL In 1983, a German magazine bought what they thought where Hitler’s diaries for $6 million. They were authenticated by 3 handwriting experts, but the magazine refused to let any German experts examine them. The diaries were soon revealed as "grotesquely superficial fakes”.
5YOmP TIL about a UN weapons inspector (David Kelly) who after declaring that Saddam Hussein had no WMDs (contradicting Britain's motive for involvement in the war) was found dead of an apparent suicide just 2 days later. His postmortem examination was then made classified for 70 years.
VBD0 TIL that when African-American former slave Jordan Anderson was asked to come back and work for his old master, he replied with a deadpan letter asking for 52 years’ back pay as proof of good faith.
ANP5w TIL that Red Stripe Jamaican Lager was originally brewed in Galena, Illinois, in the 1930s. The recipe was sold to British investors after the brewer faced financial troubles
EeAP TIL that the 80 members of the Doolittle Raid received engraved goblets for their bravery. Anytime a raider passes, the goblet is turned upside down at their reunion. The goal was for the last 2 goblets to drink 1896 cognac, the year Doolittle was born, as of 2015 there are 3 raiders left.