› added 4 months ago

26

TIL in 1895, Alva Vanderbilt shocked American society by divorcing William K. Vanderbilt after allegations of adultery. Alva secured millions, received several estates, and used her fortune to support women’s suffrage, efforts to uplift women of all races and champion social and prison reform.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

Br5VL TIL that Hydrilla was introduced to America in the 1950's from someone who discarded a used aquarium containing the plant into waters near Tampa Bay, FL. It is now one of the most invasive marine plant species in the Western hemisphere and notoriously difficult to eradicate much less manage.
Xkv6 TIL During WW2 Crystal Meth was sold over the counter in Japan as Philopon, it was so popular among workers, soldiers and civilians that a surplus was created, after the war cheap meth flooded the market as an appetite suppressant
kJjjd TIL that Rollerskate Skinny (Irish shoegaze band) and Rollerskate Skinny (song by Old 97's) got their names from Holden Caulfield's description of "Phoebe" from The Catcher in the Rye
e0kE5 TIL in 2005, a strip club in Bloise, Idaho, managed to sidestep city laws banning total nudity in public by offering customers the chance to make drawings depicting its dancers. The law forbids full nudity in public unless the display has "serious artistic merit".
QJP99 TIL I learned that after the Bounty mutiny, William Bligh was made Governor of New South Wales. After trying to eradicate the local rum trade, he was overthrown in the first and only armed takeover of government in Australian history