› added 4 years ago

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TIL: In the 1800s, Mrs Favell Lee Mortimer set out to write an ambitious guide to all the nations on Earth. She had never set foot outside Shropshire. She was horribly misinformed about virtually every topic she turned her attention to. And she was prejudiced against foreigners.

QJGMa TIL that despite its signing into law in 1983, MLK Day wasn't observed in every state until 2000. Before it was made an official state holiday in South Carolina, employees could choose between celebrating MLK day or one of three holidays in honor of the Confederate States.
a84AJ TIL that despite only releasing in 2016, the Italian movie Perfect Strangers has already been remade 24 times in different languages, but there is still no English adaptation
pdx4 TIL that Al-Qaeda has a 5-phase strategy, culminating in the collapse of the US economy due to military overextension. 4 phases are complete.
R7wP7 TIL to increase circulation of dollar coins, in 2008 the US Mint allowed individuals to purchase in bulk with free shipping. It was quickly exploited as a way to gain frequent flyer miles. People purchased coins with a credit card, then deposited them at their bank to pay the bill, cost free.
QNLEp TIL Ellar Coltrane Kinney Salmon, the person who played the child in "Boyhood," uses the singular they pronoun and rejects the gender binary. "For me, the binary gender demarcation always has felt just kind of like … a charade, like this character that I have to play."