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TIL - When area codes were first introduced, they were set up so the highest populated areas would be the easiest to dial on a rotary phone. New York was 212, Los Angeles 213, Chicago 312, and Detroit 313.

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7P9Z TIL Surgeon John Liston amputated a leg in under 21⁄2 minutes. He also cut off the fingers of his assistant; both died from gangrene. He also slashed the coat tails of a spectator, who was so scared the knife had pierced his vitals he died from fright. The only operation with a 300% mortality rate.
E1Py7 TIL a 38 year old woman named Joyce Vincent died in her London flat watching TV, and her body lay undisturbed until almost 3 years later when city officials came to repossess the apartment due to unpaid rent.
mx54P TIL the Bermuda Triangle isn't really some mysterious area of unknown dangers. In fact, it's one of the most heavily traveled shipping lanes in the world. Most of the mysterious "incidents" were found to be spurious, inaccurately reported, or embellished by later authors.
E1xpP TIL "burking" is the death by asphyxiation caused by someone sitting on your chest and holding his hand over your mouth and nose. It is named after the Scottish serial killer William Burke, who used this method in order to leave few marks on the victims which he then sold to Anatomical Institutes.
v1Eb4 TIL that any U.S citizen travelling in Austria who find themselves in distress can enter any McDonald's in the country and the staff will assist them in making contact with the U.S. Embassy for consular services.