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TIL during the 1920s, a devastating illness swept the world without known cause, attacking peoples’ brains, leaving victims speechless and motionless. The disease, known as Encephalitis Lethargica, killed nearly a million people and left millions more frozen inside their bodies. No cure was found.

vEDK TIL that witchcraft is so accepted in Romania that in 2011 the government tried to tax witches to help pull the country out of recession.
neoP9 TIL When London Underground’s first escalators were installed in 1911 a one-legged man – William ‘Bumper’ Harris-was employed to ride the escalators and demonstrate to a sceptical public the safety of the new machines. Ironically he had lost his leg in an earlier underground accident.
QNMZL TIL that President Richard Nixon often traveled to Camp David, Maryland to catch broadcasts of Redskins' home games that were "blacked out" on TV in Washington DC. He also once reserved a phone line at his Florida White House to receive the play-by-play of a Cowboys-Redskins game in Dallas.
n8mG TIL that the US population spends more than 68 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR on lottery tickets. That is more than what they annually spend on movie tickets, music, pornography, the NFL, the MLB and video games combined.
OoydR TIL contrary to fears of 'idiocracy', IQ around the world has seen substantial increase, in Britain rising 14 IQ points since the 1940s. Better health, nutrition, education and standards of living are thought to be the cause