› added 9 months ago

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TIL Tom Lehrer transferred the rights to his music and lyrics to the public domain and all are free for download

Read more tomlehrersongs.com

via reddit.com

ADVYd TIL about the Ideal Maternity Home, a maternity home that opened in 1928 and scammed young women, forcing them to pay $500 each for their stay, then either killing their newborns through medical negligence or selling them for up to $10k per baby. It was closed down in 1947
lG6B TIL: Almost exclusively in Minnesota the game “Duck, Duck, Goose” is called “Duck, Duck, Grey Duck”
6EWAZ TIL that the sandwich was popularised by the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who ordered that meat be placed between two slices of bread for easy consumption. He therefore was able to gamble and eat at the same time.
X0OwE TIL the last American Civil War widow died in 2020. Helen Viola Jackson was 17 when she married 93 year old veteran James Bolin. They married so that the Jackson would be eligible for Bolin's pension after the teenager helped the elderly Bolin with chores. Jackson never applied for the pension.
kPpe TIL that a meteorite exploded over the Mediterranean in 1999. Had it occurred a few hours earlier on the same latitude, it would have triggered a nuclear war between India and Pakistan who were fighting the Kargil War at that time.