› added 3 years ago

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TIL of Eugène-François Vidocq, a formal criminal who founded the first Private Detective agency in 1833. He mostly hired ex-convicts. His innovations include taking a plaster cast of a shoe print and introducing undercover work. He claims to have never informed on someone who stole for real need.

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jNxQM TIL the Great Lakes have at least 6,000 shipwrecks with some estimates as high as 25,000
nW48r TIL that people who work with birds or own many birds can get a disease called “Bird Fancier's Lung”. It is triggered by exposure to avian proteins present in the dry dust of droppings or feathers of a variety of birds.
gMJ69 TIL that 'Don't Mess With Texas' was originally an anti-littering campaign by the Texas Department of Transportation. Since the phrase is a federally registered trademark, the department has tried at times to enforce its trademark rights with little success.
4kog6 TIL about Tiddles, a tabby cat who made his home in the Ladies' toilets at Paddington Station in London. Visitors would constantly gift him choice cuts of meat, leading to staff installing a personal fridge for him. Tiddles eventually became so fat, he was described as "[...]a beach ball with fur."
Z8KpD TIL About polymer banknotes, and how they're in general circulation in at least 30 countries. They were first developed in Australia to replace paper banknotes with a more secure and more durable alternative.