› added 3 years ago

405

TIL that Gwyneth Paltrow marketed jade eggs for women to insert into their vaginas, and got sued for false claims and misleading information

Read more vox.com

via reddit.com

16KnX TIL that the tallest skyscraper in Florida, the Panorama Tower in Miami, is more than twice as tall as the highest natural point in the state, Britton Hill. 861 feet (262 meters) vs 345 feet (105 meters)
XEL5E TIL that Andrew Jackson openly opposed paper money, instead preferring gold and silver coins as currency. In his farewell address he cautioned the public on the national bank. Ironic that his portrait has lived on the $20 since 1928, replacing Grover Cleveland.
OlR4 TIL that in Classical Athens, the citizens could vote each year to banish any person who was growing too powerful, as a threat to democracy. This process was called Ostracism.
xVGPw TIL Mortal Kombat was blamed for a boy's death after he and a friend reenacted moves from the game with a knife they found in the street. His mom tried to sue the game's developers, but lost.
8aNea TIL The characterization of Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars saga as an ambitious and ruthless politician dismantling a democratic republic to achieve supreme power is in part inspired by Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler. Other elements of the character come from Richard Nixon.