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TIL British flatpack furniture retailer MFI was so popular, it was stated that "one in three Sunday lunches was made in their kitchens and 60% of children were conceived in an MFI bedroom." The company went bankrupt in 2008.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

8aye4 TIL that romans invented the flamethrower in the early middle ages, only to lose the invention when the guy who invented it died. They re-invented it about 200 years later. It's also most likely the inspiration for the "wilfire" in GoT.
XE6DR TIL of Rebecca Lee Crumpler, who in 1864 became the first African-American woman to become a physician in the United States. After the American Civil War ended in 1864 she moved from Boston to Virginia to provide medical care to freed slaves.
w5p6 TIL that Dolly Parton thinks it is so important that every child has books to read that she started a foundation that will mail children a free age-appropriate book every month from birth to their 5th birthday.
lQ5V TIL the word “checkmate” derives from the Persian phrase “Shah Met” which means “the King is Dead.”
xV15g TIL a study found that about one in five corporate executives are psychopaths – roughly the same rate found among prisoners.