› added 8 years ago

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TIL it took over two centuries for the 27th ammendment, the one banning congress from giving themselves mid term pay raises, to become law.

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Z8n5R TIL that Charles Guiteau, who assassinated President Garfield, probably suffered from neurosyphillis, perhaps caught from a prostitute. He spent several years at a free love commune but could not get any of the women there to sleep with him, even earning the nickname "Charles Git-out"
OoGB4 TIL that in 2013 Washington state gave Boeing an $8.7b tax break to "maintain and grow its workforce within the state" - the largest tax break in history. Boeing then cut its workforce in the state by 15%
LQOGm TIL that the original version of ‘Oh My Darling Clementine’ written in 1884 had some seriously dark lyrics. The third to last verse reads, “In a churchyard near the canon where the myrtle doth entwine Grow the roses in their posies fertilized by Clementine.” Fourth to last is also quite dark.
WkMbY TIL in 1962 two US scientists discovered Peru's highest mountain was in danger of collapsing. When this was made public, the government threatened the scientists and banned civilians from speaking of it. In 1970, during a major earthquake, it collapsed on the town of Yangoy killing 20,000.
dy8K TIL Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) went on to become a recruiter for NASA after the show was cancelled, recruiting the first female astronaut, Dr. Sally Ride, as well as the current NASA administrator, Charles Bolden.