› added 1 year ago

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TIL that the new bananas will appear to be growing upside-down due to a scientific phenomenon called negative geotropism

xVxx1 TIL a group of British schoolchildren ran their own international arms dealership during their lunch break. They bought and sold military weaponry to armies and militias around the world. This was 100% legal.
P1ZL TIL that in 2006, 1/3 of all stocks traded in the USA and EU were traded electronically by specially designed algorithms without any human input. Today, it is estimated that around 70% of stocks traded in the US and EU markets are bought/sold by algorithmic programs, with some markets pushing 80%.
NDWE TIL after President Woodrow Wilson suffered a severe stroke in Oct. 1919 his wife (Edith Wilson) began to screen all matters of state and decided which to bring to the bedridden president. In doing so, she de facto ran the executive branch of the government for the remainder of Wilson’s second term.
x771 TIL that when it became apparent that Israel was going to win the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, most of the Arabic countries ended their transmission of the contest. This includes Jordan, who replaced the live broadcast with a picture of daffodils and later announced that Belgium had won.
QQME TIL In 1998, a 17 years old worked in the mail room at Interscope Records. One day on his own, he slipped a CD from an unsigned artist into Jimmy Iovine’s listening bag that he used to take home every Friday. And Jimmy actually listened to it, and said “Whoa whoa whoa. What is this?” It was Eminem