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TIL about the Widowhood Effect: When a husband or wife dies, the surviving spouse faces a higher risk of dying over the next few months.

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7rJ0b TIL until December '98, songs could not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 unless they were released as a single. This resulted in many well-known 90s songs (e.g. No Doubt's Don't Speak, Sugar Ray's Fly) being absent from the chart's history. Under current rules, they would have likely hit #1.
PY1oZ TIL until 2008, Walmart Mexico was paying its employees with gift cards only redeemable at Walmart.
d9jB TIL the term night stick comes from the fact that the NYPD used an 11 inch baton during the day called a “day stick” and a 26 inch baton at night called a “night stick”.
DM5P TIL That the Pope remarked to Michaelangelo, upon seeing the Sistine Chapel for the first time: “It ought to have gold. It looks poor”. Michaelangelo responded that “The biblical figures depicted were poor too” The work stands unretouched till this day.
VDrm TIL Thousands of shipping containers are lost to the sea each year, and that if the containers cargo weight does not exceed 80% of the containers rated capacity, they will float.