› added 7 years ago

192

TIL the modern drinking straw was developed to prevent tainting the flavor of a mint julip which happened when using a grass straw

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X54r TIL in 1979 when New York City made it illegal to carry open containers of alcohol in public, the law was pitched to only target the anti-social homeless. A city councilman supporting the law: “We do not recklessly expect the police to give a summons to a Con Ed worker having a beer with his lunch”.
neZ5r TIL Amtrak trains running at 2am on the Sunday in November when daylight savings 'falls back" must come to a full stop for one hour. This allows clocks to catch up to the train schedule.
Rrg4 TIL that the fact that shaving doesn’t make hair grow back thicker, darker, or faster was first proven in a clinical study in 1928 by Mildred Trotter.
eG64 TIL that the German word for birth control pills is antibabypille.
NWKe TIL In 2005 Benedict Cumberbatch was abducted and held at gunpoint by armed men in South Africa. After being let go he was eventually rescued by a stranger. He commented: “It taught me that you come into this world as you leave it, on your own. It’s made me want to live a life less ordinary.”