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TIL a key ingredient in root beer (sassafras root) was found to be carcinogenic and banned in 1960 by the FDA. Artificial versions are now generally used instead

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ADvLo TIL Squirrels are the “King of the power outages” being the #1 cause of animal related outages in the US
KORJ TIL that the women of Utah gained the right to vote 50 years before the U.S. itself, in 1870. But since Utah women voted in ways favorable to polygamy, the U.S. Congress revoked this right in 1887.
QJ849 TIL that the refrain "Mama-say mama-sah ma-ma-coo-sah from "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" by Michael Jackson was taken from "Soul Makossa", a song by Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango. The song was considered one of the first disco records, and became an underground hit in the early 70s.
e07PJ TIL Sun Tzu had to train the king's concubines as soldiers, so he chose 2 as captains & gave an order, but they all just giggled. He ordered the captains' death, to the king's protests. Sun Tzu said he had to complete his mission. The captains were killed & the squads then performed perfectly.
jNW5Q TIL Vyacheslav Molotov, the namesake of the Molotov cocktail, was the last surviving major participant of the Russian Revolutions of 1917. He died in 1986 at the age of 96.