› added 4 years ago

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TIL about John Morrissey, who went from being a famous gambler during the Gold Rush to a heavyweight boxing champ to the boss of the Irish mob to a New York senator to Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall, which basically controlled NY politics for the Gilded Age, all before dying at 47 years old.

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jNKWa TIL that the normal intelligible outdoor range of the male human voice in still air is 180 m (590 ft 6.6 in). The silbo, the whistled language of the Spanish-speaking inhabitants of the Canary Island of La Gomera, is intelligible under ideal conditions at 8 km (5 miles).
7r4xO TIL that the original proposal for the plot of the movie Anchorman was about news anchors trying to escape a mountaintop plane crash, while being stalked and killed by orangutans wielding ninja stars.
XEP1R TIL the British have invaded or fought conflicts in 171 of the world's 193 countries recognized by the United Nations
wLD6Y TIL that Tom Petty's first solo album, "Full Moon Fever", which sold over five million copies, spawned five hit singles, and had collaborations with rock legends (George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison) was initially rejected by MCA Records because the top executive didn't hear any good songs
MkJV TIL that ocean fish, rays, turtles and sharks stop at cleaning stations, where smaller shrimp and fish clean them of parasites, even swimming into their mouth and gills to do a thorough job.