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TIL that during the first four days of World War II pet-owners in London queued up at animal shelters to put down their dogs and cats. More than 400,000 animals died. There was no government order to do so; nor was there any economic need.

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wGr6 TIL that “You can’t eat your cake and have it, too” is the correct form of the proverb, because its order is what illustrates the impossibility. The Unabomber got the order correct in both his manifesto & private writing & this was 1 of the linguistic anachronisms that helped the FBI identify him
4kLZb TIL: Impressed with his energy and ability to do the splits, the owner of the Oakland A's hired an 11-year old named Stanley Burrell as a batboy and personal play-by-play announcer. A's player Reggie Jackson gave the kid a nickname, Hammer, who would later become MC Hammer.
BgXlW TIL: In the 1950s the British Navy invented Water Hockey - played in 2-4 meters of water, with fins, snorkels, and a plastic-coated lead puck. It is currently played in over 20 countries that hold a world championship every other year.
4Zww TIL that none of the paintings Bob Ross painted on air were spontaneous. He would refer to a painting he created earlier that was hidden off camera.
Z8NZB TIL about the hunter-gatherer practice of "Insulting the Meat." To keep the best hunters from thinking themselves above the rest of the tribe, Ju/’hoan people insult the quality of the meat and lightheartedly mock the hunter who brought the animal down. The bigger the kill, the greater the insults.