› added 4 years ago

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TIL policeman Bob Geary used a dummy as his partner. A new police chief disallowed its usage, so Geary worked to put the usage of the dummy on the ballot. The referendum passed and Geary used the dummy until his retirement 7 years later, at which time the mayor declared the day "Officer Geary Day."

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x6Knw TIL that Harold Braunhut, a mail-order marketer and inventor of X-Ray Specs and Sea Monkeys, was affiliated with the Aryan Nations under the name "Hendrik von Braun." He was born and raised Jewish.
yQDlw TIL there’s a dating app in Iceland that "helps prevent accidental incest". Due to the small population of 320,000 it is a real risk bumping into a previously unknown cousin. The app lets users "bump" phones and emits a warning alarm if they are closely related.
QJaNE TIL the Prince of Egypt titular music "Let my People Go" was composed by Hans Zimmer(Transformers, the Rock, Inception, Nolan's Batman trilogy, Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2, etc.)
Oowd7 TIL while walking in Manhattan’s Central Park that each lamppost has a set of numbers at the base. The first 2-3 numbers indicate the closest cross street, and the last number indicates what side of town you’re closest to. An odd number indicates you’re on the west side, and even means east.
ZPYR TIL that in WWI Canadian soldiers used urine-soaked cloths as primitive respirators against chemical attacks. The ammonia in urine would react with the chlorine, neutralizing it, and that the water would dissolve the chlorine, allowing the soldiers to breathe through the gas.