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TIL the author of the Dr. Dolittle series, Hugh Lofting, created the book in a series of letters to his children while he was fighting in the First World War as a way to spare them from the horrors he was witnessing being committed on both humans and animals alike

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kKd7 TIL the place name Kandahar in Afghanistan loosely translates to “Alexander” as in Alexander the Great. Khandahar was one of the cities named Alexandria established during Alexander’s conquests.
nNLo TIL Astronomer Tycho Brahe had a pet elk, which drunkenly fell down a set of stairs to its death.
X07gr TIL: A million more babies are born every year in just Nigeria than all of Europe combined
yW88 TIL that a doctor attempted to use drugs to keep James Madison alive so he could die on the 4th of July, just like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe.
GY79E TIL that a book published in 1981 titled "The Secret: A Treasure Hunt" associates 12 riddles and 12 pictures to 12 real locations in the USA, where a ceramic bin buried in the ground houses a ~1000$ gem. Only 2 of them have been found to this day.