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158

TIL that the US wanted to switch completely to the metric system and is still going slowly towards it

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oBPLL TIL the word "literally" has been used figuratively for hundreds of years. Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, and Mark Twain all used it for hyperbole.
xrL0 TIL the original floats in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade were released into the air after the parade because Macy’s didn’t know what to do with them. However they included a ticket that would fall to the ground after they popped. If you found the ticket, you could redeem it for a prize at Macy’s.
neX8o TIL that Dr. Carlo Urbani recognized the emergence of a outbreak of pneumonia as a new epidemic and immediately notified the WHO, personally flying to Hanoi to investigate. He would die this day in 2003 of SARS, having triggered the most effective response to an epidemic in history.
6EDJQ TIL that Japan had no intention of surrendering after the nukes were dropped until emperor Hirohito stepped in. This made some generals so mad that they tried to stage a coup to overthrow the emperor to keep the war going.
1ae9W TIL that Stephen Colbert auditioned for the role of Screech on 'Saved by the Bell.'