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TIL: Henry Dreyfuss designed some of the most iconic devices found in American homes and offices throughout the twentieth century, including the Western Electric Model 500 telephone, the Westclox Big Ben alarm clock, and the Honeywell round thermostat. Plus, the streamlined locomotive.

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OGLAa TIL The word "quarantine" comes from a 14th-century practice in the Venetian Republic, where ships had to isolate for 40 days to prevent the spread of the plague, leading to the term "quarantine" from the Italian "quaranta giorni" (40 days).
kY9B TIL that in 1953 the US government tested the effects of Sarin, a WMD-grade nerve agent, by telling the man that “he was testing a cure for the common cold.”
nWGWr TIL Nic Cage hired an alcoholic to follow him around so he could emulate his behaviour for Leaving Las Vegas.
gM5Kb TIL the rainbow grasshopper (Dactylotum bicolor) is native to the United States, Canada and northern Mexico. When threatened, it exhibits aposematism or warning coloration to mimic brightly colored stinkbugs which lizards avoid. Studies show that birds find rainbow grasshoppers to be distasteful.
N7kPN TIL You are more likely to die by a meteor crushing you than you are to win the lottery. Think about that.