› added 8 years ago

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TIL The most successful pirate in history was a Chinese prostitute. Cheng I Sao commanded 80,000 sailors & a fleet bigger than most country’s navies, which is why the government had to give up and offer her a truce. She retired with her loot & opened a gambling house before passing away peacefully.

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OokDL TIL that Kirk Kerkorian, the richest person in Los Angeles, has dispensed more than $200 million and a school, and he has never allowed anything to be named in his honor
GAPWQ TIL Via Transilvanica hiking trail in Romania is probably the longest outdoor art exhibition in the world. The path is 1400km long and for each kilometer there is an andesite stone bollard marking the trail, each one hand-sculpted with a unique design.
ADYEw TIL that the Swedish version of "John Doe" is "Sven Svensson" and that the Swedish equivalent of "Average Joe" is "Medel-Svensson" (Average Svensson).
VBJ88 TIL: Thanksgiving is actually about the Union's victory in the Civil War and was made a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in the "Thanksgiving Proclamation" of 1863
GY504 TIL the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea has become a unintentional nature preserve. Several rare and endangered species, including the Amur leopard and Siberian tiger have been spotted there.