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TIL The success of Venice during the Middle Ages has been credited to its system of government which selected politicians by lottery

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4X6eX TIL The Albuquerque Isotopes (a minor league affiliate of the Colorado Rockies) named themselves after an episode of The Simpsons in which Homer finds out the Springfield Isotopes were moving to Albuquerque.
nbVd TIL another term for an intrusive thought is “The Imp of the Perverse”, a metaphor (popularized / coined by Edgar Allan Poe) for the urge to do exactly the wrong thing in a given situation for the sole reason that it is possible for wrong to be done.
R5km4 TIL that undefeated heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano came very close to losing by decision to Jersey Joe Walcott in 1952. Marciano had been trailing behind Walcott, when he managed a KO in the opening of the 13th Round.
0wQLR TIL the band Limp Bizkit holds the record for the largest first-week album sales in rock music since Nielsen Soundscan began tracking album sales in 1991.
Me0LW TIL That Sabrina Pasterski built an engine airplane at 14 y/o, at 16 became the youngest person ever to fly their own plane; she graduated MIT in 3 years with a 5.0 GPA and is now a 24 y/o harvard student getting a Ph.D. in high energy physics.