› added 1 month ago

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TIL that Ace Books tried to publish unofficial editions of The Lord of the Rings by claiming that the official publisher hadn't copyrighted the work in the US, and that it was in the public domain. Tolkien objected to this, and eventually fan pressure was enough for them to withdraw their editions.

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EgGLW TIL that two different women (Marguerite Georges and Giuseppina Grassini) had sexual affairs first with Napoleon and later with the Duke of Wellington. Georges even expressed her preference for Wellington: "The Duke was by far the strongest"
4XePg TIL MLK was working on a multiracial Poor People's Campaign when he was killed.
4XlWg TIL when Ziploc bag technology was first invented in the 1950's, it was too expensive to use for plastic bags, so its first application was in briefcases
W7OrN TIL Creed Bratton, known for his role in “The Office (US)” was also the lead vocalist and guitarist for the rock group “The Grass Roots” from 1967-1969
G6b1 TIL that a Pidgin language is a makeshift language created when two people who speak different languages want to communicate, whereas a Creole language is a language that was originally a Pidgin but is now spoken among a population as their native language.