› added 6 days ago

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TIL that Timothy Dexter (a wealthy but eccentric businessman) faked his death to see how many people would attend his funeral. Over 3,000 mourners showed up, but he revealed the ruse after berating his wife for not mourning enough.

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69bVl TIL that when a building is framed perfectly by a street it appears to be magnified, same as when the moon looks huge on the horizon, but it is just an optical illusion mind trick. Check out the bizarre way St Peter's Basilica appears to shrink as you move closer in this short clip..
dD7od TIL In Chinese folklore, there is a fabled matchmaker called the Old Man Under the Moon who unites predestined couples with a silken cord and whose legends serve as basis for the famous red string of fate.
5Vm6r TIL that President Theodore Roosevelt is the only person to have been awarded a Nobel Peace prize and the Medal of Honor.
Xbxk TIL That NASA is working on a warp drive that could get us to Alpha Centauri in 2 weeks.
pYPG8 TIL about Pantone 448 C, the world's 'ugliest color'. It is sometimes used for cigarette packaging, after market researchers determined that it was the least attractive colour.