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TIL after eating their oxen and nearly dying of thirst William Manly lead a wagon out of a valley in California when someone in the group turned to say "Goodbye, Death Valley!" The name stuck and places in the area are named after Manly

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b9RV4 TIL of Grigori Perelman, a Russian mathematician who proved the Poincaré conjecture (one of the Millennium Prize problems). He later quit his job, turned down the $1 million prize as well as the Fields Medal, and is thought to have withdrawn from the field of mathematics entirely.
EPyo TIL in 2007 The Pirate Bay attempted to buy their own country, Sealand, to attempt to gain immunity from various copyright acts.
j67jv TIL butterflies remember being caterpillars Studies suggest they retain some memories even after liquefying themselves during metamorphosis.
8eRaV TIL about Robert Rogers, who led Roger's Rangers, precursor to the US Army Rangers, during the French & Indian War, . During the American Revolution, Rogers is best known for remaining loyal to the British, after George Washington had him arrested, and later identifying Nathan Hale as a spy.
ao50 TIL 150 Irish soldiers defended a Congo town from 3000 African mercs for six days, killed 300 of the mercs and didn’t lose any men themselves.