› added 12 years ago

177

TIL “basket case” is used to describe helplessness rather than insanity, and originally described the most badly maimed WWI soldiers who had to be transported in baskets

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RBP9 TIL Houdini was friends with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle until his debunkings lead Doyle to believe Houdini was a medium using his power to block other psychics.
9YdQm TIL that In 1980 Keele University, in response to education spending cuts, issued a unilateral Declaration of Independence. The “Free Republic of Keele” declared themselves independent of the UK and issued students with new passports, enforced border control and wrote a new national anthem
M7kZW TIL Austria added chains to their national coat of arms' bird after 1945 to symbolize the end of German occupation
JYxM4 TIL that having a credit card balance greater than 30% of your credit limit will negatively affect your credit score.
jNoNn TIL the original 3 Musketeer bars of the 1930's came in packs of three: one bar with vanilla nougat, one with chocolate nougat and one with strawberry nougat (hence the name "Three Musketeers"). WWII rations made the company reduce the three pack to just one bar with chocolate nougat.