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TIL: Adding lanes to highways doesn’t reduce traffic, it increases it…a phenomenon called induced demand

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epkn4 TIL in 1858, as Congress was debating slavery in Kansas at 2:00AM, a large fight of 30+ Members erupted on the House floor. After the sitting house speaker banged his gavel and threatened to arrest noncompliant Members, the "melee dissolved into a chorus of laughs and jeers."
0QMA TIL that virtually all of the eyewear industry is controlled by one company, Luxottica S.p.A., which owns brands such as Ray-Ban, Persol, and Oakley, And makes glasses for Chanel, Prada, Armani, Burberry, Versace, D&G and many more. They also own retail brands like LensCrafters and Sears Optical.
Oo8yR TIL that Kingdom Hearts began as a conversation between two Square Enix producers who joked that the only way they can design a game that can surpass Super Mario in recognition is to use Disney characters. This conversation was overheard by none other than Tetsuya Nomura.
awaXJ TIL there is an enduring mystery about who wrote Black Betty (bam-a-lam), and what "Black Betty" stood for. It was first recorded in 1933, using black Texas prisoners.
GAWpj TIL that the Ishmael books by Daniel Quinn inspired Morgan Freeman's involvement with nature documentaries.