› added 9 years ago

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TIL out of all the words Dr. Seus made up, there are only 2 in the dictionary attributed to him: “grinch” and “nerd”.

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dXjK TIL If you hold up a grain of sand, the patch of sky it covers contains 10,000 galaxies
aw5Q9 TIL Lafayette, the French officer who aided the U.S. Revolutionary War, gifted a pair of pistols to Washington in 1778. Eventually, they came into Andrew Jackson's possession, and Lafayette identified them while visiting Jackson in 1825. In his will, Jackson bequeathed them back to Lafayette's son.
X01BP TIL that from 1991 until 2019, women were not allowed to wear trousers in Sudan.
6EEam 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.
R7XOQ TIL: sleeve Chevrons used in military rank insignias typically point down in the US Navy & US Air force & Commonwealth countries. In the US Army & US Marine Corps Chevrons point up.