› added 10 years ago

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TIL former US Attorney General and key supporter of the Patriot Act, John Ashcroft, once lost a senatorial race to a dead guy.

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R7Dma TIL Jeff Bezos's biological father didn't know his son existed until a journalist tracked him down while writing a biography in 2013
dDWkQ TIL that the death rate for heart attacks increases by 15% on days when marathons are held in major US cities. This is thought to be due to road closures and traffic around the marathon route. Ambulance ride length increases by an average of four minutes on marathon days.
D1Zmj TIL aluminum is so corrosion resistant because where iron and steel rust, Al combines with oxygen to form a material even harder than aluminum itself, called corundum. This is the second hardest naturally occurring material, next to diamond.
1vZ8 TIL the US Pledge of Allegiance was conceived by a magazine to sell American flags to public schools
6Row TIL in 2007 Boston Police Department shut down waterways, highways, and bridges after mistakenly identifing battery-powered LED placards of characters from the Adult Swim show Aqua Teen Hunger Force as improvised explosive devices. The devices were being used as a guerrilla marketing campaign.