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TIL The Saint Petersburg Sphinxes are about 3500 years old, Andrei Muravyov, who in 1830 was going on a pilgrimage to holy places. Ancient sculptures made him so impressed that he immediately sent a letter to the Russian Ambassador, in which he proposed to acquire them.

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D1RoY TIL of One of America’s great rags to riches stories and a pioneer not only for women but also African Americans, Madame C.J. Walker blazed a path as the first black woman millionaire and is argued as the first self-made woman millionaire in the U.S.
ko47 TIL the King of Siam offered Lincoln war elephants to use against the Confederacy in the Civil War, and Lincoln rejected the offer.
OGk17 TIL of the "Mad Piper" Bill Millin, the only bagpiper to land on the beach in Normandy. While men fell around him, he played his pipes throughout the battle. A group of captured German snipers was asked why they hadn't shot him. They replied that they thought he'd gone insane and felt bad for him.
oBgQo TIL that the three great minds: Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr and Erwin Schrödinger behind Quantum Mechanics all read from and greatly respected the Vedas, the ancient Indian Sanskrit texts on spirituality. Schrödinger even mentioned this in a book he wrote called "My view of the world."
rVko TIL that the actor, who played Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, never starred in another film. Instead, he pursued a career as a veterinarian.