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TIL a 19th century self-help movement called “Ralstonism” (named after author Everett Ralston) convinced the Purina Mills folks to rename their company Ralston-Purina. The name “Everett Ralston” was a pseudonym and the man never existed.

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e09BL TIL that Sister Mary Kenneth Keller was the first woman to get a Ph.D in computer science.
PDBG TIL Chelsea Peretti’s (Gina from Brooklyn Nine-Nine) brother founded Buzzfeed
NXbXQ TIL: When falling in the standard belly-to-Earth position, an average estimate of terminal velocity for skydivers is 120 mph (200 km/h), and a falling person will reach terminal velocity after about 12 seconds, falling some 450 m (1,500 ft) in that time.
6bdW TIL since Ronald Reagan, each outgoing United States president has left a private message on the Oval Office desk for the incoming president on Inauguration Day.
Br8jL TIL in 1972 the US Congress established the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), to provide policy-makers with a better means of understanding complex science, and the many technology concerns of the day. It was dismantled in 1995 for being biased and unnecessary.