› added 13 years ago

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TIL: There were once Africans on display in the Bronx Zoo

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16rB7 TIL that the idea that people distribute poisoned candy on Halloween is a myth. There has never been a confirmed case of strangers injuring or killing children in this way, though some parents who have killed their children have tried to use it as a way to cover up their crimes.
vP8lR TIL Jimmy Carter is the only living president to have won Texas as a democrat
xVdx0 TIL - Ketchup originally was made with mushrooms, with the mushroom version being popular around 1750. The tomato version only appeared about 100 years later.
P15lJ TIL in 1962 Nick Holonyak Jr. invented & first demonstrated a semiconductor laser diode that emitted visible light which was the forerunner of the first generation of commercial LEDs. In addition, 10 of his 60 former doctoral students have since developed new uses for LED technology.
P17GV TIL that Parmentier, to encourage the consumption of potatoes which people were wary of, decided to have the field where he grew them guarded by armed men during the day but not at night. Guarding the field increased the value of the crop; at night it was easy to steal tubers, and consumption spread