› added 11 years ago

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TIL that Portugal decriminalized all drugs - not just pot, 12 years ago. Drug use has dropped by over 70%, and today many view drug users in the community more favorably then cigarette smokers.

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W7y9Y TIL The Parthenon in Athens was largely intact for over 2000 years. The heavily damaged ruins we see today are not due to natural forces or the passage of time but rather a massive explosion in 1687.
R7yda TIL the Japanese government gave elderly people discounts on ramen if they surrendered their drivers license.
yVGle TIL Abraham Lincoln had already seen the play “Our American Cousin” and did not like it. He went at the insistence of his wife stating, "All right, Mary, I'll go; but if I don't go down in history as the martyr President, I miss my guess."
rO6W TIL that studio execs disliked the film title “Beetlejuice” and wanted to call it “House Ghosts.” Displeased, Burton jokingly suggested “Scared Sheetless.” The director was horrified when they went for it. Needless to say, Burton eventually got his way.
e0WvD TIL Chinese Pidgin English. Used for 200 years in Chinese ports, the language mix Chinese syntax and English words creating a grammar like: "Chinese man very great rogue truly, but have fashion, no can help". Some expressions were introduced back into English: "Long time no see"; "No money no talk".