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TIL optical brighteners are added to liquid laundry detergent so that your clothes appear brighter under the sun upon hanging.

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ADedo TIL During World War I, the German government carried out a census of Jews to prove that german Jews weren't pulling their weight in the war effort. What they found out instead was that Jews were overrepresented on the front lines.
a8V5A TIL about the British Post Office scandal in which hundreds of sub postmasters (people who run a post office in the UK) were criminally prosecuted and some put in jail on the charges of serious theft/fraud - when actually, it was a fault in the accounting software and the BPO tried to cover it up.
b9lNE TIL that Russia has “closed cities”, cities that have restrictions on visitors and are sometimes omitted from maps.
e0Vmb TIL that the Japanese dish Oyakodon, made with chicken and eggs, translates to “Parent and child rice bowl”
woVY8 TIL that the Romans published a daily gazette called the Acta Diurna. It contained major events, births and deaths. It was either inscribed in stone or metal or painted in black on white walls called Albums. This practice was initiated by Julius Caesar and lasted from 59 BC to 222 AD.