› added 10 years ago

645

TIL Hercules once tricked Atlas into holding the sky using the old “hold this while I tie my shoes” routine

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Oo5Xg TIL that the maker of SoftSoap knew he couldn't patent liquid soap dispensers, so he did the next best thing: he raised $12m and bought out the US's entire manufacturing capacity for two years to prevent other soap companies from stealing his idea.
aGpb TIL Japan measures its cultural output in “Gross National Cool”
E1bm0 TIL that Mississippi had no official state flag from 1904 to 2001 due to a legislative oversight. In 1906, Mississippi repealed all general laws that were not reenacted by the new code. The flag statute was inadvertently omitted.
9wLO6 TIL about Lizzie Cyr, a prostitute whose lawyer (John Cameron) claimed that the female magistrate on the case was unfit to judge as women were not considered people under Canadian law in 1928. The case led to females finally being declared people by the British privy council.
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