› added 10 years ago

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TIL in 1919 Winston Churchill wrote “I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes.” He was referring to the war in Mesopotamia

negkd TIL the blacknose dace, now one of the most widespread fish in the eastern US, suffered a severe range contraction during the Ice Age and was restricted to a single area: what is now modern-day Connecticut. After the Ice Age ended, the dace recolonized the whole East Coast in as little as 75 years.
OGQBR TIL In Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria and other countries, the philosophy of the law holds that it is human nature to want to escape captivity. In these countries, those who escape jail and do not break any other laws are not charged and no extra time is added to their sentence.
Wwb8 TIL that altough prostitution is legal in Portugal, it is illegal for third parties to profit from it. (So brothels are illegal)
D17Xj TIL the original lyrics to "This Land Is Your Land" contained the words "There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me. The sign was painted, said 'Private Property.' But on the backside, it didn't say nothing. This Land was made for you and me" were not released due to McCarthyism.
J0Pl TIL Ben Franklin never patented any of his designs and inventions. He believed “that as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously”