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TIL of the Great Flood of 1862, which created a 300 mile long sea in California's Central Valley

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6EvwQ TIL that during the Irish Potato Famine, the poor were hired for useless construction projects called 'famine follies' in order to provide them with work that would not take existing work away from other workers. These included roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points.
BgMlK TIL that in year 2000, 41 million dollars was spent to promote the new Sacagawea golden dollar. Television ads consisted of the head of George Washington superimposed upon a body, voiced by actor Michael Keaton, discussing the merits of the new dollar coin. The coin ended up being a failure.
R7OP4 TIL about Alexander Winton, who built and sold the first American-made gasoline car on March 24, 1898. The public was skeptical. "To advocate replacing the horse, which had served man through centuries, marked one as an imbecile."
E1aBo TIL Jeff Bridges wears the same t-shirt in 3 different movies, Cold feet, The fisher King, and The big Lebowski. The shirt is a pic of Japanese Professional Baseball Player, Kaoru Betto, who was the recipient of the first Pacific League MVP.
VB1YQ TIL The African Island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe has a 500 year tradition of drama called 'Tchiloli', where just one play, the 16th century 'The Tragedy of the Emperor Charlemagne and the Marquis of Mantua' is ever performed.