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TIL Abacus, a NY Chinese bank and 2,531st largest in the US, was the only US bank indicted for the 2008 financial crisis. An isolated incident of laundering money turned into an indictment for mortgage fraud. "They were the ones singled out." Abacus was found not guilty on all 240 charges.

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WW44 TIL After Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Academy Award for her role in “Gone with the Wind” she was accused of being an Uncle Tom by the NAACP to which she responded that she would “rather make seven hundred dollars a week playing a maid than seven dollars being one”.
epWd5 TIL Dalmatians became associated with firehouses in the 18th and 19th centuries because of their ability to protect firefighting horses, fend off street dogs, clear the way with barking, and guard the equipment.
xeRD TIL there is nothing inherently technical or necessary in a microwave popcorn bag. You can make microwave popcorn in a brown paper bag with normal kernels.
jNw9M TIL George Lucas approved of Mel Brooks’ Star Wars parody Spaceballs and signed off on a fair use agreement. The only condition was that no Spaceballs merchandise would be made to compete with Star Wars merchandise. This is why there’s never been any Spaceballs figures, cereal, or flamethrower.
OGY8e TIL Frankenstein is not the name of The Monster; Dr. Frankenstein's assistant (1931) is named Fritz; and neither Fritz nor Igor appears in the 1818 book by Mary Shelley.