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TIL that Great Britain accidentally adopted the gold standard in 1717 due to Isaac Newton (who was at the time the master of the Royal Mint) setting the exchange rate of silver to gold too low, thereby causing silver to go out of circulation.

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KOj7w TIL Voltaire's joke that the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) was "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire" was mostly true. The center of the Church at the time was actually the Vatican, the HRE's people were mostly Germanic and not Roman, and the nation was never truly unified at any point in its history.
XEekP TIL Keanu Reeves turned down a $11 million offer to reprise his role as Jack Traven in "Speed 2: Cruise Control" in favor of playing the main role in "The Devil's Advocate" opposite to Al Pacino
D17np TIL: The PH scale was invented in Carlberg's laboratory to improve the brewing process of beer.
ANg0g TIL that when you donate your body to science, it can get used as a crash test dummy, for medical training, forensic research or to save a life through organ transplants.
9YwEm TIL that unlike much of its competition, Family Video owns the real estate housing their stores, helping them to avoid unsuccessful lease negotiations that led to the demise of Blockbuster and Movie Gallery, which includes Hollywood Video. Family Video is now the largest rental chain in the U.S.