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TIL James Smithson, the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institute, was English and never actually stepped foot in the United States. His reasoning behind leaving such a vast inheritance to a foreign country is unknown.

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QNdRd TIL that in Edinburgh Scotland the Balmoral hotel's clock is set three minutes fast to ensure the people catch their trains. The only day it runs on time is 31 December (Hogmanay), for the city's New Year celebrations.
6EROX TIL there exists a Little Nipple Cactus, and its scientific name is Mammillaria heyderi
6Lm8 TIL A woman hired A hitman to kill a family in order to obtain a block of cocaine she had seen, but it later turned out to be a block of fancy cheese.
XE95D TIL The Animaniacs Nations of the World only took one take
VMmgB TIL in the 40's hundreds of Guatemalans were infected involuntarily with syphilis by Johns Hopkins University, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and the Rockefeller Foundation. A court case is underway to this day on behalf of 444 victims resulting in 83 deaths.