› added 11 years ago

54

TIL Michigan was the third jurisdiction in the world, after the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and Liechtenstein, to abolish the death penalty. They did so shortly after entering the Union, in 1846.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

LklyZ TIL that the world's oldest still-functioning light bulb is purported to be the Centennial Light in Livermore, California. Maintained by the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Dept, the bulb was installed in 1901 and has only been turned off a handful of times.
R7aaw TIL In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon with an official number. After realizing that a woman was running, race organizer Jock Semple went after her trying to stop. The photographs taken of the incident made world headlines.
xVXP1 Black women are three times more likely to die from complications of childbirth than white women in the U.S.
wLWx8 TIL the name Shirley was considered to be a distinctly male name until the publication of Charlotte Bronte's novel "Shirley" in 1849. Since then it has been popularly considered to be a female name
ne5gG TIL that the word, “Robot” comes from the Czech word for slave, “Robotnik”. The word first appeared in a translation of Czech playwright Karel Čapek’s 1920 sci-fi drama titled “RUR”.