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TIL Telemarketers have caused some people to begin only answering calls from numbers that they actually recognize on their caller-ID displays, preventing emergency calls and calls from loved ones using pay-phones or someone else’s phone from getting through

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0w4OM TIL that there's a species of spider that breathes air, but lives its entire life underwater in diving bells made of spider silk
l76KB TIL as of late 2011 Texas no longer provides executed felons a last meal. The tradition had existed for almost a century, but after a high profile incident where a murderer refused to eat anything the state legislature passed a law to end the practice entirely. Most states instead have a price cap.
awk60 TIL that Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador, spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture in his country. He was murdered by unidentified gunmen while celebrating Mass. He was later declared a saint by Pope Francis.
Xg8j TIL that republicans gerrymandered a district in Pennsylvania to eliminate a democratic house representative in 2002. The new district formed a finger that contained his house, but not the spot where he parked his car. He was forced to run against another democrat for representative and lost.
Y7gpx TIL in the 1880s, the Harvard Observatory director was frustrated with his staff, and would say “My Scottish maid could do better!” So, he hired his Scottish maid. Williamina Fleming ran a team for decades, classified tens of thousands of stars, & discovered white dwarfs and the Horsehead Nebula