› added 11 years ago

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TIL A fictitious soft drink was created to prove the effectiveness of advertising on buses. So many people started demanding it that the drink actually starting being made by restaurants and soft drink companies

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4pBN TIL there are emergency hotlines for Hall and Oats, Phil Collins, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan and Chicago. You can listen to their songs in an emergency.
Z858D TIL of Project X-Ray. This cancelled World War 2 weapon, when deployed, would disperse Mexican free-tailed bats carrying small incendiary bombs. The bats would then roost onto buildings before igniting. It was intended to be used in Japan, were many buildings were made of wood and paper.
v6R4 TIL that scientists once tested the intelligence of beavers by playing the sound of running water on a field. Eventually, the beavers began covering the tape player with branches and mud.
Y5Dd TIL that between 1900-1973, over 100 boys died at a Florida reform school for delinquents as a result of sexual and physical abuse, torture, beatings, and even outright murder from staff. The school only recently closed in 2011.
awWE9 TIL The idiom see a man about a dog (horse) Is from the 1866 Dion Boucicault play Flying Scud. In the play, a character knowingly breezes past a difficult situation saying, "Excuse me Mr. Quail, I can't stop; I've got to see a man about a dog."