› added 4 years ago

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TIL when Philips introduced the first plasma TV in 1997, it was only displayed in four Sears stores and cost $14,999.

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Lor0 TIL that the Queen of England’s portrait has been on enough international money to make a progressive timeline of her aging.
gQNX TIL that in 2006, the US ambassador to Syria received instructions to overthrow the Syrian government by force. Instructions included intentionally stoking sectarian tensions to destabilize the government.
yV5Y8 TIL the term log comes from determining the speed of a ship. A "log" was put into water tied to a rope and they measured "knots" to see how far they traveled. A person who timed things would write down the measurements in a notebook. This is why it is called a "log" book.
v1yYr TIL that a Scottish parliamentarian introduced a bill to decriminalize homosexuality in England after his gay brother killed himself. It passed. He wrote another bill to protect badgers. It failed. When asked why the latter didn’t pass, he snorted “There are not many badgers in the House of Lords.”
nvBr TIL a lawyer died by trying to prove to a bunch of students, that a window on the 24th story was unbreakable. The window gave way and he fell to his death.