› added 3 years ago

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TIL that the term "Big Bertha" comes from Bertha Krupp, the sole owner of the company who manufactured the popular German WW1 "big bertha" siege howitzer cannon.

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e0NlD TIL the original Mr. Potato Head didn't come with a plastic body. The pieces were meant to be put into an actual potato.
N7KdM TIL the great smog of London in 1952 was so bad that pedestrians couldn't even see their feet. Some of the 4,000 who died in the 5 days it lasted didn't suffer lung problems – they fell into the Thames and drowned because they could not see the river
MeOeA TIL for centuries, India practiced sati, where widows were obliged to commit suicide upon their husband’s death, often by self-immolation on their funeral pyre. The British banned it in the 19th century
aoAZ TIL Black Beauty wasn’t written for children; it was an appeal to the public to stop abusive practices like the use of the checkreins and overworking horses.
eN15 TIL in 1966 Ronald Reagan wrote Jelly Belly a thank you letter for “keeping the state gov running smoothly” as the jelly beans worked as an alt. to smoking, allowing them to get through meetings and make decisions