› added 6 years ago

91

TIL a major tobacco company was sued for allegedly using company vans in the 1960s to make trips to housing projects where free Newport cigarettes were given to children. A jury ruled against the tobacco company, which was ordered to pay over $35 million in damages.

VLwm TIL that Hitler, after a total war economy was instituted in 1943, had the women’s cosmetics industry gradually closed down rather than banned outright to avoid upsetting Eva Braun.
LkEeP TIL that in 2007, 2008 and every year from 2011 to 2015, a 6-foot Lego minifigure washed up on the shore somewhere in the world with the words "NO REAL THAN YOU ARE" written on it. They are all signed by "Ego Leonard" (or L, Ego), an artist whose actual name and identity are unknown.
XE4lE TIL that President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Robert F. Kennedy (who had just announced a presidential bid) were all assassinated within less than five years of each other.
1a9vW TIL that the first message sent across the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable, on August 16, 1858, read, "Directors of Atlantic Telegraph Company, Great Britain, to Directors in America:—Europe and America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, good will towards men."
9LDp TIL that in 1977, a boycott was launched against Nestlé when it was found that they were giving free samples of baby formula to new mothers in Africa and then charging for it as soon as they were unable to switch back to breastfeeding. This caused high infant mortality and development problems.