› added 11 years ago

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TIL in 1898 Bayer introduced diacetylmorphine, marketed as a cure for morphine addiction and cough suppressant. The drug is better known by its trade name, Heroin.

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wGx1 TIL There is a 300 year old Tibetan manuscript that has been translated as follows: “The Yeti is a variety of bear living in inhospitable mountainous areas.”
1KM4 TIL the world’s longest burning fire is 6000 years old
Bg1GD TIL about the Goodyear Inflatoplane, an inflatable aircraft designed to serve as a rescue method for airmen trapped behind hostile lines. When unloaded, it weighed a mere 102 kilograms, and the engine on the smallest variant output a mere 40 horsepower, comparable to a small motorcycle's engine.
jN0Ra TIL the name of "Spam" is a portmanteau of "spiced ham".
xVlWg TIL about the "Impossible Literacy Test of 1964" that was given in Louisiana to those who wanted to vote. The test is to be taken in less than 10 minutes, the questions were intentionally vague and obtuse and if you failed, you couldn't vote. It was intentionally used to disenfranchise voters.