› added 11 years ago

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TIL that after Abraham Lincoln was called out for refusing to indicate whether or not he wanted to go Heaven or Hell he said “"I did not come here with the idea of being singled out, but since you ask, I will reply with equal candor. I intend to go to Congress.”

8eM7L TIL that dinosaur soft tissues and cells really do preserve in fossil bones. Maybe even proteins! A newly peer-reviewed “chemical framework”, based heavily on organic geochemistry, has been proposed that plausibly explains this phenomenon. Science fiction looks like it’s becoming reality.
KV1Q TIL that Charles Hatfield, a self-proclaimed “moisture accelerator”, accepted a job from the city of San Diego in 1915 to end a long drought for $10,000 but was forced to deny payment when people died due to severe floods shortly after he completed the job.
v19xr TIL although Miracle on 34th Street was (and is) a Christmas film, 20th Century Fox wanted it released in summer 1947 on the grounds that more people would see movies in warm weathers. The film's promotions up until the actual release made no mentions of any Christmas themes.
BrQnD TIL that British explorer Sir Samuel White Baker owned a gun he named the "Baby," a 2 bore rifle so absurdly powerful that it was almost unusable. As the largest caliber ever built for a shoulder gun, it fired a half pound shell that would outclass even a .50 BMG in terms of sheer force.
EeeV TIL Stephen Colbert has four bug species named after him, grew up two blocks away from his future wife, and is an ordained minister