› added 13 years ago

186

TIL Americans throw away “enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet every three months

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KOOoQ TIL In the 18th century, King George I of England declared all pigeon droppings to be property of the Crown.
5ElR TIL Michael Bloomberg spent $650 million of his own money during his time as NYC mayor. Footing the bill for many expenses and donating hundreds of millions to better the city. “In the past, the city paid its mayor; Mr. Bloomberg paid to be the city’s mayor.”
kOE9B TIL the Byzantine Emperor Basi II, or Basi the Bulgar Slayer, after the Battle of Kleidion, put captured Bulgarians into groups of one-hundred, and left ninety-nine of each group blind. The latter of whom was captured and left with only one eye, and had to lead the blind group back home.
MeBx7 TIL that in the 1940s and 50s, the Quebec government deliberately misdiagnosed 20,000 orphans with mental illnesses as they would get larger federal subsidies for psychiatric patients than for orphans. The orphans were confined to psychiatric institutions, many being abused and lobotomised.
woGDY TIL jazz musician Artie Shaw, leader of one of the most popular big bands of the 30s and 40s, was married and divorced 8 times, the first 7 of which averaged less than 2 years each.