› added 3 weeks ago

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TIL that after a rural Ohio county reported nearly 70 cases of leukemia in the mid 90s, it was discovered that a local high school had been built on an Army depot used as a dump for chemical waste.

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b9Zoa TIL that both Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi tried to kill themselves during adolescence, and that both suffered severe bouts of depression later in life.
YWBx TIL Swingline did not make a red stapler prior to the movie Office Space, and the one used in the movie was painted over to become red. Due to demand after the movie release, it was manufactured and is now the most popular item on the Swingline website.
8emZ8 TIL in 1937, actor Lionel Barrymore tripped on set and broke his hip and kneecap. To keep him filming, MGM’s Louis B. Mayer allegedly gave him $400 worth of cocaine daily to help him with the pain. Barrymore is now best known as the villainous Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life.
J1Ra1 TIL there is a province in Italy where 62% of the population uses German as their first language
X01YQ TIL Nasa estimates a 35% increase in heat transfer would reduce the chances of Yellowstone erupting to almost zero. One proposal is to simply pump more water into the supervolcano.