› added 5 years ago

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TIL "hermetically sealed" is named after Hermes Trismegistus who was into alchemy and supposedly found a way to make a glass tube air tight.

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JYaVB TIL in 1944 a 14-year-old was executed by electric chair. George Stinney Jr, a black boy, was accused of murdering 2 white girls. The trial was flimsy, and the jury decided in 10 minutes to execute the teen. In 2014, his conviction was vacated.
la1r TIL about J.R.R. Tolkien’s service as a Lieutenant in World War I. He fought in The Battle of the Somme, and it has been suggested that the horrors of trench warfare shaped his later depictions of Mordor in The Lord of the Rings.
NXbx8 TIL Walmart pulled a "pregnant" Midge doll, who came with baby Nikki inside her magnetic womb and was marketed as Barbie's best friend, after complaints from customers which included: She did not (initially) come with a wedding ring, she promoted teen pregnancy, and was packaged without husband Alan
yjy8 TIL that in 1930 a zoologist went to Syria and brought back 11 newly discovered hamsters. Only 2 of them bred and their offspring were sent to laboratories around the world. Today, the hamsters you see in pet stores are most likely descendants of these two hamsters.
OoG96 TIL Count von Count of "Sesame Street" laughed maniacally and used hypnotic stunning powers in the early 1970s, but they softened his act to not scare kids. He still annoys other puppets by interrupting their business to feed his counting addiction. He usually comes on TV at 2:30 PM ("Tooth Hurty").