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TIL "yelling FIRE in a crowded theater" was coined in 1919 to imprison anti-war activists who published leaflets opposing the Draft, which constituted a "clear and present danger" under the Espionage Act.

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Zol4 TIL The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl was actually caused by a drill meant to solve another severe safety issue. The explosion occurred when the reactor was mistakenly almost allowed to shut off, then pulling out the control rods completely to try to stop the mistaken shutdown.
0wkwj TIL until the 60's, computing power was measured in "Kilo-girls" as the earliest computers where humans. And, more often than not, female
rRBnM TIL It takes thousands of years for sunlight to travel from the Sun’s core to its surface and then only ~8 minutes to reach us.
Yp5vd TIL of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the longest-lived British princess by descent, and the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria. She lived through six reigns- those of Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II. She died in 1981, aged 97.
5Y8jD TIL what ablaut reduplication is. it’s why when we say clip-clop instead of clop-clip (this is because you always put an I, Then A, then O for 3 words and I then A or O for 2)