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TIL that Eli Whitney’s cotton gin is short for “cotton engine”.

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JYgGk TIL that when Ready Player One was released, there was an easter egg in the book that lead readers to three challenges, including playing a new Richard Garriott game and setting a world record on a game for the Atari 2600. The winner of the challenges was awarded a vintage DeLorean.
rNB01 TIL the Roman plebeian Publius Afranius Potitus vowed to sacrifice his life if Emperor Caligula recovered from his illness. He expected to be rewarded for his loyalty, but was shocked when he was expected to carry out his oath after Caligula recovered. He tried to renege, but was executed.
5VeA8 TIL, at tax originally levied in 1898 during the Spanish-American War was in effect until 2006.
QNJlM TIL Susan Sarandon, who play a cellist named Jane in "The Witches of Eastwick", learned only after being cast that she would have to quickly learn how to play cello, and was told that she would be sued if she left the production.
O1eg TIL: The last surviving eyewitness of Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination was a man named Samuel J. Seymour who lived until April 12, 1956 at the age of 96. In February 1956, Seymour appeared on the TV game show I’ve Got a Secret, where he described the assassination in detail.