› added 10 years ago

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TIL that Nazi Germany was the first nation to have an anti-smoking campaign, because the link between lung cancer and smoking was discovered by German doctors.

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jmBa TIL that the checking account was invented by the Knights Templar in the 12th century. Crusaders would deposit their valuables with the Knights before journeying to the Holy Land, and would receive a certificate entitling them to items of equivalent value upon their arrival.
7rDax TIL about the Vajont Dam Disaster. In 1963 after reporting numerous warning signs about the the risks of a landslide some journalists were sued by the goverment for "undermining the social order". A landslide eventually occurred causing an overflow and killing between 1,900 and 2,500 people
BrkQy TIL Zach Galifianakis had a two-week trial run as a writer on “SNL” before being let go. He wrote a sketch with Will Ferrell being the bodyguard of Britney Spears’s belly button that bombed so bad in the writer’s room that Tina Fey put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
5M4p TIL: In the US, it’s illegal to fire someone for talking about their salary with their coworkers.
e06KE TIL Alcoholics anonymous co-founder, Bill Wilson, experimented with LSD. He found the experiences to be so life changing that he considered the use of LSD as a step of AA. He then removed himself from the AA governing body after backlash.