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TIL the foot-measuring tool ("Brannock Device") used by shoe stores was invented by Charles Brannock in 1927. He was advised to make it out of plastic so regular replacements would be needed, but he insisted on steel. Today, most Brannock Devices survive 10-15 years of daily use before wearing out.

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BOYW TIL that in 1957, then Vice President Nixon was celebrating the independence of Ghana when he asked a group of men how it felt to be free. They replied, “We wouldn’t know. We’re from Alabama.”
b94PZ TIL a Pantograph is the accordion-like apparatus on top of a train that draws current from the overhead wires. Its called that due to its resemblance to the other Pantograph, linked sticks which produce a duplicate copy of handwriting and artwork. The word itself means "All writing/drawing."
QNbQX TIL Steven Spielberg told movie stars that if they wanted to work with him, a prerequisite was that they gambled along with him by not taking any salary upfront and instead only taking backend compensation. He said "...if my film makes no money I get no money. They should be prepared to do the same"
pYxop TIL that the Chicago Railroad Fair inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland
7rkpZ TIL Martin Luther King's iconic sentence "I have a dream" was improvised. Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme "I have a dream", prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!"