› added 6 years ago

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TIL about the gin craze that swept through London in the 18th century, to a point where the average Londoner drank up to 14 gallons a year. Being named the opium of the people

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via reddit.com

VMmyD TIL that since the turn of the century, cockroach populations have plummeted in some former Soviet countries for unknown reasons, with at least one species being proposed for inclusion in lists of threatened fauna
volD TIL a farmer in 1898 discovered a Viking runestone under the roots of a tree and it dates to 1362, suggesting Vikings were the first to discover America.
VMQ6m TIL that Thanksgiving was not actually a federal holiday in the United States until 1863, when it was declared so by Abraham Lincoln.
E1Nd TIL: A 34 year old virgin became a father of 82 after he legally prostituted himself to help make babies for women that wanted children.
l76XG TIL M. Night Shyamalan was raised Hindu, but attended a private Roman Catholic grammar school. A teacher once became upset because he "got the best grade in religion class [even though he] wasn't Catholic".