› added 11 years ago

71

TIL Before Google launched Gmail, ‘G-Mail’ was the name of a free email service offered by Garfield’s website.

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47dR TIL that in 2002 a Painesville man was ordered by a judge to stand with a live pig next to a sign that read “This is not a police officer,” after the man referred to an officer as a pig during their confrontation.
p8YaQ TIL that after the Library of Congress was burned by the British in 1814, Thomas Jefferson offered his entire personal library as a replacement—more than doubling the previous size of the library to 6,487 volumes
vPBQB TIL in 1985 the great-grandson of Oscar F. Mayer gave away his $1.4 million inheritance (adjusted for inflation) at age 26 to become an activist and academic expert, specializing in inequality, tax policy and hereditary wealth
5YLoR TIL In the '80s, the drinking age was raised from 18 to 21 nationally because Reagan passed a bill in 1984 that required states to raise their drinking age to 21. They don't have to make it 21 per se, but if they chose to opt-out, they would simply be ineligible for federal highway funding.
AxJa TIL that on his deathbed, Voltaire was asked by a priest to renounce the Devil. Voltaire responded: “Now now, my good man. This is no time for making enemies.”