› added 1 year ago

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TIL: President Franklin D. Roosevelt never invited Jesse Owens to the White House following his triumphs at the 1936 Olympics. In Germany, Owens had been allowed to stay in the same hotels as whites at a time when African Americans in many parts of the United States had to stay in segregated hotels.

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wLN67 TIL that Dalmatians we’re used as guard dogs for horses who would become scare at the scene of a fire. Since they stopped using horses it became the mascot of fire stations.
8PbG TIL that an Indian airline only hires women because they are lighter, so they save up to $500,000 per year in fuel
JYnV TIL women in Texas must view an ultrasound, listen to the heartbeat, and be described the organs before being allowed to get an abortion.
VBjkZ TIL that in 2002, Saddam Hussein won a referendum on his presidency with 100% of the vote. This narrowly beat the previous referendum in which he won 99.9%
x6vk7 TIL the first transatlantic telegraph cable was completed in 1858 and it took 2 minutes for a single character to make the journey, the first full message from Queen Victoria taking almost 18 hours to complete.