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TIL the phrase "neither rhyme nor reason" is from Edmund Spenser. Elizabeth I told her treasurer to pay Spenser "what is reason." Edmund wasn't paid, and wrote "I was promis'd on a time,\To have a reason for my rhyme:\From that time unto this season,\I receiv'd nor rhyme nor reason." He got paid.

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VONG TIL that after the highest-ranking defector from the Eastern Bloc, a 3-star general in the secret police of Romania, arrived in US, a bounty of 2 mil was placed on him. Yasser Arafat and Muammar al-Gaddafi set a 1 mil reward each. Additionally, Carlos the Jackal was hired. Gen. Pacepa still lives.
4XOXg TIL that cotton balls aren't made of cotton. Despite their name, most modern cotton balls are made out of cheaper, bleached synthetic fibers such as polyester and nylon.
v7oj TIL During the 1st live iPhone demo, Steve Jobs was secretly switching phones because they couldn’t even play a song without crashing. Their displays were rigged to show 5 bars of signal strength and he had to use a portable cell tower just so they would seem reliable enough to make calls.
Dp5V TIL that ‘JREF’ has a standing $1mil (US) reward for anyone who can prove supernatural or paranormal powers under mutually agreed upon testing conditions. Since 1964, it has gone unclaimed and every applicant has either failed or not agreed to the testing conditions.
l7xXB TIL that the Barclay brothers were knighted in 2000 for their support of medical research, to which they have donated an estimated £40 million between 1987 and 2000.