› added 8 years ago

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TIL that JFK awarded Canadian immigrant Frances Oldham Kelsey America’s highest federal civilian service award for preventing a major tragedy of birth deformities from thalidomide

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GY7Oj TIL: The letters Q, W and X were illegal in Turkey for 85 years until 2013 because the letters were associated with the Kurdic language. Enforcement wasn't that strict for Western companies (like Xerox), but in 2005 a group of Kurds was fined 100 lira for holding up signs with the letters
WkLkB TIL M&M's were first made in 1941 during WWII and were sold exclusively to the military as an easy way to provide the troops with chocolate on the battlefield without it melting so easily. After the war, many troops were hooked on the candy and in 1946, the candies became available for civilians.
W7ROo TIL During the Vietnam War the act of "Fragging" was when US troops would toss a grenade in their commanding officers tent; known and suspected fragging cases by explosives in Vietnam from 1969 to 1972 totaled nearly 900 incidents.
ywwl TIL: A species of Japanese crab evolved to have a shell resembling the face of a samurai warrior. Those crabs survived better because fisherman admired them and threw them back in the ocean.
BreaW TIL Washington state will be the first state to allow human composting as a form of burial on May 1, 2020.