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TIL: The gravestones of John Parr (The first British soldier to die in WW1) and George Edwin Ellison (The last British soldier to die in WW1) both face each other in the same graveyard

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1aV84 TIL after the holidays the Rockefeller Christmas tree is donated to Habitat For Humanity and used to build homes for those in need.
M7Q88 TIL In 1920, the worlds largest lightbulb manufacturers (including GE) formed the "Phoebus Cartel". The cartel lowered operational costs and standardized the life span of incandescent light bulbs at 1,000 hrs (down from 2,500 hrs). These were the primary lightbulbs sold up until the 21st century.
wor47 TIL Christopher Hitchens, in his book "God is not Great", suggests that the pork prohibition found in Semitic religions is based in the proscription of human sacrifice, extended to pigs because of the similarities in appearance and flavor between pork and human flesh.
wNgW TIL Freddie Mercury used a piano as a headboard for his bed and taught himself to play the piano backwards so if a song idea popped into his head when lying in bed, he could reach backwards and play it or record it.
17WV TIL you shouldn’t breathe on your lens to clean it, your breath contains harmful acids that could damage the lens coating. (x-post from Photography)