› added 3 years ago

89

TIL Many Rich people buy fine art to evade taxes

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via reddit.com

OGAJg TIL: During a very cold winter in the Little Ice Age (1658), the Swedish army under Charles X Gustav successfully marched across ice temporarily connecting the larger Danish islands including a 19 km crossing of the Storebælt (Great Belt).
VBJbk TIL a "bit" is equal to 12.5¢, and since the US has no coin worth a bit, "two-bit" (equal to one quarter) became a way of describing something cheap or unworthy, as in "two-bit hustler" or "two-bit operation."
JYrmQ TIL: Mexico had a complex legal and racial caste system. Art referred to as "casta" paintings were seen as a way to "codify racial groups"
mbWY TIL that until World War II most US groceries, dry cleaners, drugstores, and department stores offered home delivery service. War-related labor shortages, and gas/tire rationing, caused most to stop; businesses found, however, that sales increased when customers had to buy in person.
mxj8y TIL that The Who’s Roger Daltrey is allergic to cannabis, which affects his singing. On one occasion he threatened to stop a show due to people smoking, advising them to “stick it up your fuckin’ ass.”