› added 10 years ago

237

TIL that Indian housewives hold 11% of the World’s gold. That is more than the reserves of USA, IMF, Switzerland and Germany put together.

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via reddit.com

rN1Nd TIL that Genericide is the term for when the name of a distinctive product becomes the generic term for a general class of products (e.g. Jell-O used to describe all gelatin desserts)
j4dj TIL Ulysses S. Grant was pulled over for riding his horse and buggy too quickly. Realizing it was the president the officer apologized and offered to ignore the infraction, but Grant replied “I was speeding, you caught me and I’ll pay the ticket.” He was fined $5, which would have been $91 today.
N7EoQ TIL Quebec's provincial government intentionally misclassified 20,000 children as mentally ill and confined them to psychiatric institutions in order to misappropriate federal subsidies for the benefit of the Catholic Church
R78Ql TIL that In January 2017, the Icelandic Naming Committee ruled that parents could not name their child Hel "on the grounds that the name would cause the child significant distress and trouble as it grows up".
4Xl0o TIL Canada has an older 'continually running' monarchy than the UK, having been initially established in the 16th Century. While being under British Rule, French Rule, and ultimately an independent monarchy, there has not been a time since Canada has not had a monarch.