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TIL the origins of the slogan "Don't Mess with Texas" was a litter campaign. Printed on street signs, it reduced litter by 72% within a few years.

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11XO TIL that if you fly through an “asteroid belt”, you’re probably not gonna see a single asteroid.
PYnrg TIL that the first thing that was ever bought and sold over the internet was weed. In 1971 or 1972, Stanford students using Arpanet accounts at Stanford's AI Laboratory engaged in a commercial transaction with their counterparts at MIT, and thus the first act of e-commerce was a pot deal.
Lk4QP TIL The United States Constitution lists issuing letters of marque and reprisal as one of the enumerated powers of Congress. These letters authorize a private person, known as a privateer, to attack and capture vessels of a nation at war with the issuer. Congress can make you a pirate.
8eakZ TIL Washington Irving, author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, had a huge impact on American culture. He popularized the name "Gotham" for New York City & is responsible for our perception of Santa Claus as he wrote, in 1812, about Saint Nicholas flying over treetops in a flying wagon.
4p0g TIL that Stalin was only 5 ft 4 in tall. He had painters shot who didn’t depict him “right.”