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TIL Kansas City isn't in Kansas at all but rather in Missouri. The town used to be called Kansas but soon after the city's incorporatation the territory of Kansas was established so they renamed the town Kansas City

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9wxaQ TIL: You can determine the voltage in power lines overhead by counting the insulator discs below the line. High voltage power lines typically use disc insulators to prevent current entering the metal pylon. Counting the number of discs can give an indication of the line voltage:
e1xJ TIL Horton Hears a Who, by Dr. Seuss, is an allegory for post-WWII US occupation of Japan. Seuss, who was vehemently anti-Japanese during the conflict, had a drastic change of heart after visiting postwar Japan. He dedicated the book to a Japanese friend.
XEDd6 TIL that “mechanical” prosthetics date back to the 16th century when wounded knights would need mechanical fingers to still grip their swords or lance
N7po1 TIL United Feature Syndicate responded positively to a comic strip featuring a side character with a stuffed animal. They asked the creator to develop a strip around these characters but ultimately rejected it for lacking in marketing potential. The strip was Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson.
1WZ7 TIL on June 27, 1844, Mormon Founder Joseph Smith was murdered by an angry mob while he sat in a jail cell. The incident arose after Smith ordered the destruction of a news paper that exposed the fact he had married 8 already-married women.