› added 4 years ago

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TIL that a helium balloon on the moon, unlike what might feel intuitive, would drop to the ground as if it was heavy.

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E1nd0 TIL of Carl Laemmle, who migrated to the US in 1884. He started one of the first movie theaters in Chicago, challenged Thomas Edison's monopoly on films, began advertising stars to increase their earnings, founded Universal and sponsored hundreds of Jews to emigrate from Nazi Germany to the US.
9Yll7 TIL Ryan Gosling turned down a spot in The Backstreet Boys b/c he thought they were a rip off of the NKOTB.
KOmA4 TIL before Gilligan's Island got its famous theme, the pilot featured a 6 minute long Calypso song written by a then-unknown John Williams
Egdgd TIL that in 1984, Sweden introduced a 0.5% tax on financial transactions. 50% of traders in Stockholm moved to London by 1990. The reduction in market activity resulted in the money raised from the tax being minimal, and actually reduced overall tax revenue due to reductions in capital gains tax.
nWvYG TIL about the 1971 Iraq poison grain disaster, in where grain containing methylmercury never intended for human consumption was imported into Iraq, where it was consumed by Iraqis living in rural areas. The recorded death toll was 459 people, but higher figures have been suggested.