› added 10 years ago

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TIL that, according to the American Psychiatric Association, caffeine withdrawal is officially a mental disorder.

6Ewyl TIL that in 1970 an American pilot William Schaffner was sent to intercept a UFO over England. His plane was later found in the sea but his body was not located. The cockpit was sealed shut.
NX4ZQ TIL Drake's Plate - a brass plaque initially believed to be inscribed & left by Sir Francis Drake at the site of his CA landfall & considered CA's greatest historic treasure at the time of its "discovery" - was a prank on historians by their peers that escalated out of control (despite many clues)
QoVa TIL that during the Cold War, the Soviet Union could tell fake passports from real ones because of the quality of the staples. Real passports would have poor quality because of the lack of quality metal.
R7R64 The first modern crematory was built in the U.S. in 1876. A second came eight years later. By 1900, there were 20. The practice got another boost in 1963 when the Catholic Church reversed its opinion on cremation during the Vatican II reforms and said cremation was permitted (though ash scattering was not). Four decades ago, less than 5 percent of American were cremated when they died. Now that figure stands at nearly half.
ZpKL4 TIL In his original concept drawings for Oscar the Grouch, creator Jim Henson imagined a magenta monster. Due to the limitations of early color television, Oscar was redesigned with orange fur for his premiere on the first season of Sesame Street in 1969, and changed to green for the second season.