› added 2 months ago

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TIL: that despite being top 3 for earning potential, the U.S. is actually quite low in "economic mobility"

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QJAPp TIL Santa was skinny for most of his existence. In 1863, cartoonist Thomas Nast began drawing him with a huge stomach. Both the skinny and fat versions of Santa existed into the 1930's, when Coca Cola used a fat Santa in their advertisings, forever cementing that image in pop culture.
Y7M87 TIL that in 2014, Scientists at UCLA published a study which demonstrated that muscle mass, independent of fat mass and cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors, was inversely associated with mortality risk in older adults
rREEd TIL there is a mathematical "game" called the homicidal chauffer problem, in which a driver in a fast but slow-turning car tries to run over a slower pedestrian who has more freedom of motion. It is used to improve missile guidance systems.
neV0G TIL that during the height of the Cold War, President Kennedy proposed the idea that the USA and USSR should work together to land a man on the moon. This was in order to minimise costs and to avoid doubling up on R&D.
Bgpnk TIL that Texas v. Johnson (1989), the landmark SCOTUS case that upheld the right to burn an American flag as protected speech under the 1st Amendment, was wildly unpopular with the public. 75% of Americans disagreed with the decision, and two thirds supported outlawing flag burning via amendment.