› added 12 years ago

170

TIL the U.S. pays subsidies to farmers who grow tobacco

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via reddit.com

XAaX TIL in 1984 Stephen Fry bought the third Mac computer ever sold in Europe. The first two were purchased by none other than Douglas Adams.
neKVY TIL a 260-ton "upsetter" mechanical forging machine was sent to the USSR in 1942 as part of war aid. It turned out tank driveshafts and large artillery shells. In 2016 it was purchased, dismantled, and shipped back to Ohio for re-manufacturing.
5Vrer TIL The Phil Donahue Show, later known simply as Donahue, was the first talk show format that included audience participation.
mxrEv TIL that if you add 250ml of ethanol to 250ml of water, you get less than 500ml of liquid. This is due to strong hydrogen bonding that draws the different molecules close together, and because ethanol interferes with any open structures in the water, causing the molecules to pack closer together.
jyDM TIL when a German chemist tried to recreate a lavish ancient dye called “Tyrian purple,” he had to use 12,000 mollusks to make enough to color a single handkerchief.