› added 10 years ago

167

TIL New York launched an “America Works” style workfare program in 1995 known as the Work Experience Program (WEP). The result was that thousands of students were forced out of school, and thousands of union workers were replaced by WEP workers doing the same jobs for a fraction of the pay.

Read more baltimorechronicle.com

via reddit.com

gMlLA TIL that Target has their own forensics lab which is so good that police departments routinely ask them for help.
W7jjN TIL that the town of Chevy Chase, Maryland wasn't named after the actor, or vice versa. Both were named after an English historical ballad about a war that took place on the border between England and Scotland.
Wk1P9 TIL ancient swords from 'Damascus' (Syria) dipped in 'Dragon's Blood,' as legend has it, were studied by scientists who further dipped the metal, 'wootz,' in hydrochloric acid to reveal, under an electron-microscope, nano-metre-sized tubes with a microstructure similar to modern carbon nanotubes.
loAw7 TIL the 2006 movie Idiocracy was released in only 7 cities and expanded to 130 theaters rather than the typical 600, the film's distributor was entirely absent in promoting it, and while posters were released to theaters, no movie trailers, no ads, no press kits, and only two stills were released.
vPLXx TIL during the French Revolution, Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, changed his name to "Citizen Égalité", advocated against absolute monarchy, and in the National Convention, voted to guillotine Louis XVI. Despite this, he still executed in 1793 during Reign of Terror as an enemy of the republic.