› added 6 years ago

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TIL that in 1998 USA, more fast-food employees were murdered on the job than police officers.

P1DNw TIL Mithridatism is the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts. The word is derived from Mithridates VI, the king of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses, aiming to develop immunity.
OGoXR TIL that dayta is more British & dahta is more American. I've always pronounced data as dayta, particularly as a Star Trek fan growing up. Living in the UK now, watching an American reality competition show, was surprised that most of them pronounced it as dahta & had to check on my stereotypes.
D18ge TIL 40% of the deaths during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 were from drowning, mostly from fast rising waters after levee breeches overcame neighborhoods. Most of the deaths were the elderly, with 49% of the fatalities over age 75.
a8V5A TIL about the British Post Office scandal in which hundreds of sub postmasters (people who run a post office in the UK) were criminally prosecuted and some put in jail on the charges of serious theft/fraud - when actually, it was a fault in the accounting software and the BPO tried to cover it up.
aw7Z9 TIL that in 2014, a sinkhole opened up under the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky. The 40 foot wide sinkhole swallowed eight rare or one-of-a-kind cars but didn't impact the structural integrity of the building.