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TIL Heroin is a brand name and the drug was originally marketed by Bayer as a non-addictive cough medicine.

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VBGQB TIL Gunter Schabowski accidentally announced the opening of the Berlin Wall at a press conference in 1989. He had not reviewed the press release script and was absent during the Politburo deliberations.
R5Z46 TIL that in 1973, artist Chris Burden took a handgun, aimed it at an airplane taking off from Los Angeles International Airport, and fired several shots. The act was filmed for a performative art piece titled 747. The piece was meant to depict the idea that you cannot regulate everybody.
neQ5r TIL the Roman Empire mined so much silver that at peak production they were mining 200 tonnes per year. This was 5 to 10 times larger than the combined amount of silver available to Medieval Europe & Abbasid Caliphate around 800 AD.
6E1X7 TIL cattle in the United States are often fed chicken excrement (once cow can eat up to 3 tons of it every year) because it is cheaper than feeding them hay, grass, alfalfa, etc.
epZX4 TIL Eiffel Tower can be 15 cm taller during the summer due to thermal expansion